Commonwealth of Independent States Summit in Yalta

September 18, 2003, Yalta, Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

On video: Livadia Palace, various plans, arrival of high-ranking officials; Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych meets representatives of the CIS countries; meeting, various plans, speech of President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, among those present were Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov, Minister of Transport of Ukraine Georgy Kirpa, Prime Minister of the russian federation Mikhail Kasyanov, President of russia vladimir putin, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev, President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko; speech of Viktor Yanukovych; press conference with Leonid Kuchma, handshakes, comments to the press; signing of agreements, various plans of negotiations and ceremonies.

Reference: The Commonwealth of Independent States Summit, held on September 18–19, 2003 in Yalta, became one of the largest international political events in Ukraine in the early 2000s. It was attended by 10 of the 12 presidents of the CIS countries, as well as government delegations and diplomats, who discussed issues of foreign policy coordination, economic cooperation, and security initiatives. During the summit, a number of intergovernmental agreements were signed, including documents on a free trade zone and on cooperation in the energy sector.