Photo: THX

The Commonwealth of Independent States signed 20 cooperation agreements at its annual summit on Wednesday in Ashkhabad, including a Policy Statement on Strengthening Aid Effectiveness, a Regional Trade Agreement and Regional Cooperation Agreement, and a Cooperation against Terrorism Agreement. The summit agreed to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi in 1941-1945 and to select 2013 as Environment and Cultural Ecology Year. They agreed on main directions for development of the group’s joint air defense system.