MOSCOW, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Terrorism will be the main issue at the summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States Wednesday, Russian officials told the Interfax news agency.
Leaders of the 12 former Soviet republics in the Russian-led CIS will gather in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Following the killing of nearly 500 people in Russia in a wave of terrorist attacks believed to have been carried out by Chechen extremists, stepping up the struggle against terrorism has moved to the top of the agenda, a senior Kremlin official told the news agency.
"The agenda of the CIS was adjusted by the recent tragic events in Russia," Sergei Prikhodko, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, told Interfax.
The struggle against terrorism will take center stage at the Astana CIS summit, Prikhodko said. Putin plans to brief the other CIS leaders and then join them in issuing a joint statement on the problem, he added.
