CIS heads of state meeting in Moscow on Putin’s birthday

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 11 Oct 2024 by Alex Teddy

On October 7, the leaders of the CIS countries gathered in Novo-Ogaryovo, the suburban residence of the Russian President in Moscow Oblast to meet and celebrate Vladimir Putin’s 72nd birthday. The CIS, or Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional intergovernmental organization led by Russia that consists of all post-Soviet countries that have kept ties to Russia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Moldova is still a formal member but suspended its participation in 2022 and is expected to fully withdraw by the end of the year. The Russian press secretary released a statement stating that only the CIS leaders knew the details of the meeting, seeing as the event was completely private. Previously, Putin enjoyed celebrating his birthday with visits and gifts from other friendly world leaders, such as China’s Xi Jinping with whom Putin has allegedly developed a friendly personal relationship. Along with the CIS leaders, birthday messages have been delivered from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua and North Korea among others, but an official statement from China remained conspicuously absent despite local events in China celebrating it. Beijing had in fact celebrated on October 2 the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the USSR and China. This pomp around Putin’s birthday is a part of a limited cult of personality around Putin, encouraged by the Kremlin but also stemming from his genuine popularity in Russia. In Russia, Putin’s birthday is seen as a sort of unofficial but officially sanctioned patriotic event, especially in recent years. In fact, recent polls show more than 70% of support among the Russi...

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