Russia sought yesterday to expand its influence over former territories during integration talks that Washington has cast as a bid to re-Sovietise the region.
President Vladimir Putin met separately with the leaders of Belarus and Armenia before engaging the head of resource-rich Kazakhstan about ways to more closely bind the neighbours economies.
He also attended a collective security meeting that resolved to create a Moscow-led air defence unit that would focus its activities on the regions surrounding war-torn Afghanistan.
Western attempts to force other nations to accept their own standards can lead to the most serious circumstances, Putin said in a trademark swipe at the United States.
Putin is a comrade who is focusing on a certain goal and I am sure he will make it.
His idea of becoming a president then a prime minister and then a president
shows how he is capable on reaching different achievements in life.
Putin is a comrade who is focusing on a certain goal and I am sure he will make it.
His idea of becoming a president then a prime minister and then a president
shows how he is capable on reaching different achievements in life.