Nazarbayev and Putin meet for talks

Sochi, 16th August 2006 — President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of five other ex-Soviet states gathered Tuesday on the Black Sea for three days of talks on forming a customs union and a common energy market.

Leaders from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan joined Putin in the port of Sochi for discussions on developing that the Eurasian Economic Community _ a grouping that aims to restore economic ties after the 1991 Soviet collapse.

Proposals to be discussed included water energy regulation in Central Asia and setting up a Eurasian hydroelectric consortium.

Armenia's leader, Robert Kocharian, was attending the meeting as an observer, as was Ukraine's new prime minister, Viktor Yanukovych, on his first trip abroad since being confirmed to the post by parliament earlier this month.

Comments by Yanukovych _ whose policies are considered pro-Russian _ will likely be seen as an indication of whether he will aim to strengthen cooperation with Russia, even as Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko tries to move his nation closer to the West.

Earlier Tuesday, Putin met for one-on-one talks with several of the leaders, including Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Putin and Nazarbayev signed a series of agreements intended to streamline customs tariffs and tariffs for transporting Kazakh cargo via Russian railroad lines, Russian news agencies reported.