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The document said Mr Putin and Mr Niyazov had issued instructions to their staff to draft without delay a new treaty of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

The two leaders were unanimous that international terrorism, illicit traffic in drugs and trans-national organised crime posed the main threat to stability and security in the world in general and the Central Asian region in particular.

They agreed that the threat to stability in Central Asia was impossible to remove without a comprehensive settlement of the on-going Afghan civil conflict. Russia and Turkmenistan believe that the UN and its Security Council must play a central role in international efforts to settle the Afghan conflict.

The Presidents of Russia and Turkmenistan stressed the need to strengthen international strategic stability. As the document says, continuation and intensification of the nuclear powers’ efforts to reduce strategic offensive arms was of great importance. Prevention of an arms race in space was assuming a greater priority, too, the communique said.

The document set forth the position of the two countries on good-neighbourliness and mutual understanding between the Caspian states, and on an early legal status for the Caspian Sea with due account taken of the interests of all Caspian states.

Russia and Turkmenistan intend to organise large-scale cooperation in oil and gas and in energy transportation. A concrete step will be taken to sign an agreement on natural gas deliveries from Turkmenistan to Russia on a long-term basis and to implement joint projects in this area.

As the Presidents of Russia and Turkmenistan watched, two inter-governmental agreements were signed.

The first concerned the opening of a Russian-Turkmen secondary school named after Pushkin in Ashgabat, the second, cooperation and mutual assistance in the enforcement of tax legislation.