Samarkand, 15 September 2022 (TDI): The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin met the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov. The meeting happened on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit 2022.
The 22nd Meeting of SCO Heads of State Council (HSC) is being held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
🇷🇺🇹🇲 Президент России В.В.#Путин в ходе встречи с Президентом Туркменистана С.Бердымухамедовым:
💬 Россия – один из ведущих торгово-экономических партнёров Туркменистана, и мы намерены увеличивать нашу долю.
🔗 https://t.co/CVfSJpIeWl#РоссияТуркменистан pic.twitter.com/7qQkznRrhJ
— МИД России 🇷🇺 (@MID_RF) September 15, 2022
Also, read: President of Russia and Iran meet on the sidelines of SCO Summit
Statement of Russian President
President of Russia stated, “I would like to congratulate you on holding this event. It was held at the highest level and contributed to the development of not only relations in the Caspian region, which is very important for all of us, but also our interstate relations.
This year – we already talked about this in April – we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries and we can state that the level of the strategic partnership that has developed and is recorded in the relevant documents, has not only on paper place to be but in fact, in life, this is how it happens.”
President Putin continued, “This, of course, is a great personal merit of Gurbanguly Myalikgulyevich Berdimuhamedov. I would like to convey my best wishes to him.
He did a lot, and, as you know, we noted these merits accordingly: the order – a state award – “For Services to the Fatherland” – in this case, both to Turkmenistan and to Russia at the same time.
I know that Gurbanguly Myalikgulyevich is going to visit Russia at the invitation of the Chairman of the Upper House of the Russian Parliament, Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko, and he will have a meeting with the Chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin.
I would also like to meet with him personally; this meeting will certainly be organized.”
The Russian President also added, “The governments, ministries, and departments of our countries are working to implement the agreements that were reached during your visit to Moscow on June 10.
14 intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents were signed in various fields. All this is of great importance for the development of our ties, and, of course, above all, this is the economy.
We will take our relationship to the next level. This is stipulated by the Declaration on Deepening Strategic Partnership signed by us.”
He further added, “Russia, as you know, is one of the leading trade and economic partners of Turkmenistan, and we intend to increase our share. Unfortunately, in the pandemic year and now, the trade turnover has slightly decreased.
We will consider that this is a subject for discussion and future adjustments, but we simply have to state this in order to understand what needs to be done additionally in order to even out the situation and develop it further.”
President Putin also talked about the ongoing agreements with Turkmenistan. He said, “In total, 190 enterprises with Russian participation operate in Turkmenistan, and I would like to thank you for the fact that the authorities of Turkmenistan create the necessary conditions for this work.
We aim to diversify our economic ties through other areas of cooperation. This refers to agriculture and the textile industry. We are ready to increase the supply of non-primary products to the market of Turkmenistan.”
Putin further aimed to strengthen the bilateral relationships with Turkmenistan. He stated, “60 constituent entities of the Russian Federation are actively cooperating with Turkmenistan in very different areas; agreements have been concluded with many in the trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural spheres.”
“We hope that plans to create a Russian-Turkmenistan university will soon be implemented. We cooperate actively in the international arena, practically in all international organizations, and the foreign ministries are in constant contact with each other.” said, President Putin.
Statement of President of Turkmenistan
The President of Turkmenistan stated in response to the Russian President, “Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! I would like to note the high level of bilateral political relations. As you know, this was confirmed by mutual visits at the highest level.
On June 10, my first visit, an official visit to Moscow, took place, and on June 29, your visit to Ashgabat took place to participate in the sixth Caspian summit.”
He continued, “I would also like to note that inter-parliamentary ties have significantly strengthened. In May of this year, Ashgabat hosted the first Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the countries of Central Asia and the Russian Federation.
Also, as you noted, in October this year, the Chairman of the Upper House of the Parliament of Turkmenistan, respected Gurbanguly Myalikgulyevich Berdimuhamedov, will visit the Russian Federation at the invitation of the Speaker of the Federation Council.”
The President of Turkmenistan addressed the Russian President, “Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! I would like to note that contacts between the governments of the two countries are being carried out on a systematic basis, and interdepartmental consultations are also held on a regular basis.”
“I would like to express my gratitude to you for your firm and unwavering support for the neutral foreign policy of Turkmenistan, the initiatives put forward by our country in the United Nations and other international structures.” President Berdimuhamedov said in his concluding remarks.
