By RIA Novosti
St. Petersburg : Post-Soviet leaders, who had gathered for an informal Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit, have reaffirmed their intention to continue closer integration within the alliance, Kazakhstan's president said.
"We can confirm that… we will pursue integration within the Commonwealth (of Independent States)," President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
Nazarbayev, who currently holds the CIS presidency, spoke to the press on behalf of the other leaders Sunday. He said the presidents of the former Soviet republics had agreed to discuss one issue a year. "Kazakhstan proposed discussing migration first."
The Kazakh leader said there were 178 million migrants in the world. Migrants account for 10 percent of 130 million of workforce in the CIS, he said, highlighting discrimination against them across the ally countries.
Held on the sidelines of the 11th St. Petersburg Economic Summit, the 40-minute informal gathering also addressed economic issues.
The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to reform the CIS, comprising 11 states and criticized by some members as being too dominated by Russia.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said he hoped Russia would gradually remove economic sanctions against his country.
Russia has introduced a ban on Georgia's key imports, mineral water and wine, citing quality concerns.
Moscow also restricted travel and other links to the small Caucasus nation following a bitter diplomatic row in September, further souring relations between the ex-Soviet allies.