NOVO-OGARYOVO, Moscow Region. June 14 (Interfax-AVN) - The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) should be a field of cooperation and not a field of battle, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a news conference after talks with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Monday.
"We shouldn't turn the CIS space into a field of battle, but turn it into a field of cooperation and do everything possible to provide it with assistance to develop its democracy and economy," Putin said.
Putin also said that Russia might address the issue about the development of CIS countries at the next G8 summit which will be held in St. Petersburg in 2006.
"The situation in former Soviet republics is important for us. I hope that we and our colleagues will be able to give an objective assessment to the situation in the CIS (at the G8 summit - Interfax) next year," the president said.
Russia's "relations with certain CIS countries are not smooth, but they (these countries - Interfax) require our support and the global community's support," he said.
Some CIS countries, among them Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Moldova, "can be listed as the poorest nations" today, Putin said.