Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maksim Ryzhenkov attended a regular meeting of the CIS Foreign Ministers Council that was held in Dushanbe, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The foreign ministers discussed current international issues and cooperation within the Commonwealth.
Minister Ryzhenkov advocated for the continued pursuit of a coordinated policy to advance common interests at both regional and international levels. He highlighted, as a positive example, the adoption of a CIS heads of state statement on the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, an initiative put forward by Belarus.
In his address, Maksim Ryzhenkov also emphasized the need to widely publicize the Commonwealth’s achievements and its capacity to jointly address modern challenges and threats.
The foreign minister welcomed the approval by the CIS Foreign Ministers Council of a draft resolution of the CIS Heads of State Council to grant the Shanghai Cooperation Organization observer status within the CIS. He also noted that Belarus anticipates the imminent signing of a new cooperation roadmap between the CIS Executive Committee and the Eurasian Economic Commission. According to him, the Commonwealth could additionally benefit from establishing the CIS Plus format.
Maksim Ryzhenkov invited his colleagues to attend the III Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security that will be held in Minsk on 28-29 October.
The CIS Foreign Ministers Council meeting covered a total of 16 items. Following their approval, 11 documents were submitted to the CIS Heads of State Council for further consideration, and three more were forwarded to the CIS Heads of Government Council.
The parties decided to hold the next meeting of the CIS Foreign Ministers Council in Kaliningrad on 17 April 2026.
The Belarusian foreign minister also held a series of brief meetings with his CIS counterparts on the sidelines of the event.
