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When he addressed the summit, Mr Putin said that time had confirmed the correct decisions of all of the Commonwealth states in supporting the international anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan.

He stressed that the situation in Asia had changed after the operation was launched—the terrorist infrastructure had been eliminated and the threat to CIS countries’ security reduced.

Mr Putin highlighted Russian participation in the anti-terrorist coalition by opening its airspace and providing information and humanitarian aid. Russia conducted humanitarian operations both independently and with the international humanitarian mission of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

He stressed Moscow’s active work with Afghanistan, as demonstrated by a sequence of visits by spokesmen of the Afghan Interim Administration to Russia, which had started quite recently.

As Mr Putin sees it, the CIS Executive Committee should draft practical proposals against the international drug trafficking as soon as possible, because current political developments urgently demanded it.

Mr Putin stressed the necessity for CIS countries’ economic integration, especially in the fuel-and-energy sector. He also mentioned population migration problems in the CIS.

The informal CIS summit gathered the heads of all the Commonwealth countries at the Chimbulak mountain ski resort in the Trans-Ili Alatau, Kazakhstan. Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev was the only leader absent because his doctors did not think the trip would be good for his health.