The Council of Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will hold a meeting in Dushanbe on June 4 and 5.  The event will bring together prime ministers from CIS member countries, including Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, says the press service of the Russian government.

The leaders will discuss cooperation in trade, economic development, and cultural and humanitarian spheres.

Among the key agenda items is the planned approval of several development concepts, including cooperation in the light industry sector, harmonization of national air traffic management systems among CIS states, and collaboration in public health protection.

The heads of government also aim to update the Concept of Cooperation in the Field of Public Health Protection to include new measures focused on preserving and strengthening public health and promoting a healthy lifestyle among the population.

A significant outcome expected from the meeting is the signing of an agreement to advance heavy machinery manufacturing within the CIS.

In the cultural and humanitarian domain, the meeting will consider documents on cooperation within the CIS framework.  Notably, the adoption of regulations for the CIS Volunteers Forum is planned, establishing a legal basis for the development of volunteer movements across member states.

Additionally, the agenda includes reviewing regulations on the principles for creating the organizational and technical structure, construction, and operation of a Joint Communication System for the armed forces of CIS countries.  This document aims to ensure an adequate level of military communications cooperation among the member states’ armed forces.

The meeting is seen as an important step in strengthening cooperation across multiple sectors among CIS countries.

Tajikistan formally took over the rotating chair of the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2025.    

The CIS Council of Heads of Government is a working body within the Commonwealth of Independent States.  It is composed of the heads of government of the CIS member states and serves as a forum for discussion and coordination on various matters of mutual interest, including economic, social, and political cooperation.

The CIS covers much of the former Soviet Union, including as full members Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Moldova, as well as Turkmenistan as an “associate.”

Georgia quitted the Moscow-dominated Commonwealth of Independent States in 2009.  Georgia's CIS membership officially ended on August 17, 2009.

Ukraine, which participated in the CIS since its inception, never actually ratified its charter – disagreeing with the document’s positioning of Russia as the only legal successor state to the Soviet Union.  Kyiv ceased its participation in the statutory bodies of the CIS in 2018.  Although Ukraine stopped its participation after the Russian annexation of parts of Ukraine in 2014, it formally withdrew from the CIS Inter-parliamentary Assembly as an official termination of its membership on May 3, 2023.

It is to be noted that Moldova is also distancing itself from the CIS, but leaving is might not be so easy.