Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in St Petersburg to attend the Central Asian Cooperation Organization summit with the presidents of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, to take place Thursday evening.

On Friday, talks will be held in St. Petersburg between Putin and German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who is visiting Russia on Putin's invitation.

At the Central Asian Cooperation Organization summit, leaders will discuss trade, economic and cultural cooperation, along with measures to counter international terrorism and extremism, a Kremlin official said.

The organization was formed as the Central Asian Economic Community in 1998 by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and became the Central Asian Cooperation Organization in 2002. Russia joined in May 2004.

News source: rian.ru
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