On October 10, 2025, a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) took place in Dushanbe, chaired by the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon.
The summit was attended by the heads of state of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as the CIS Secretary General, Sergey Lebedev.
At the invitation of the CIS Executive Committee, a delegation from the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), led by Deputy Secretary General Oleg Kopylov, participated in the extended-format meeting.
At Kazakhstan’s initiative, a new mechanism called "CIS Plus" was launched within the CIS framework. This format, which has already proven successful within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, will provide a platform for cooperation between CIS member states and other countries and multilateral organizations interested in fostering partnerships on issues of mutual concern.
The leaders also decided to grant the Shanghai Cooperation Organization the status of an observer at the CIS. The fact that the SCO was the first to receive this status, which was introduced by the CIS in 2023, highlights the strong ties between the two organizations.
Turkmenistan will assume the CIS chairmanship in 2026.
On the sidelines of the summit, the SCO Deputy Secretary General held brief meetings with Tajikistan’s Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin, Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev, Belarus’ Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhankov, CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev, SCO Goodwill Ambassador Mikhail Shvydkiy, as well as several other officials, and also engaged with media representatives.