KAZAN, August 26 (RIA Novosti) - The issue of improving and reforming CIS bodies will be in focus at the session of the Council of CIS Presidents opening in Tatarstan's capital Friday. The agenda comprises some 20 issues, most of which were coordinated in Moscow on Tuesday at a session of the CIS Foreign Ministers' Council. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in March that CIS bodies should be reformed and the CIS members should build their relations with Western countries in a new way.
"I believe the CIS should be preserved. Everybody is interested in it, regardless of the internal political slant of people in power. Problems remain and people are expecting their solution.
"The CIS was formed to make the breakup of the U.S.S.R. more civilized. The CIS coped with this task," Putin said.
Putin said the CIS was useful for its members to exchange information and opinions and cooperate in solving problems.
