The Federation Council Speaker met with the President of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko met with President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov. The President of Kyrgyzstan arrived in Russia on an official visit to participate in the events dedicated to the 78th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Today, he held talks with President Vladimir Putin.
“The heads of state reached agreements on further strengthening the strategic partnership and alliance between our countries and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres. Legislators will facilitate the effective implementation of these decisions,” Valentina Matvienko said.
She noted the special spirit of cooperation between the countries and peoples of Russia and Kyrgyzstan and unity in their efforts to maintain a caring attitude to history and the memory of the heroic deeds of their forefathers.
Sadyr Japarov visited Rzhev the day before to hold a solemn ceremony for the opening of the memorial site to the Kyrgyz people who died heroically during the Great Patriotic War. On 9 May, the President of Kyrgyzstan will attend the Victory Parade on Red Square as a guest of honour.
“We will remember forever Kyrgyzstan’s significant contribution to our common Victory. Soldiers from Kyrgyzstan defended Moscow as part of the Panfilov Division. As a senator from St Petersburg, I can’t help but note that 16,000 Leningrad Siege survivors were evacuated to Kyrgyzstan during the war, including children who found a new home in Issyk-Kul,” the Federation Council Speaker said.
Valentina Matvienko offered her congratulations to Sadyr Japarov on the occasion of Victory Day celebrated on 9 May. She emphasised the importance of preserving the memory of the Great Patriotic War, the unacceptability of the attempts to rewrite history or to belittle the feat of the Soviet people who emerged victorious from that war. “Last year, at the initiative of the Interparliamentary Assembly, the Council of CIS Heads of State declared, CIS-wide, 2025 the Year of the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War — Year of Peace and Unity in combating Nazism,” Valentina Matvienko said.
In the context of Kyrgyzstan's chairmanship of the CIS in 2023, she appreciated her Kyrgyz colleagues’ efforts to support joint projects in patriotic education aimed at preserving common history and protecting traditional values. “The cultural and educational project “Train of Memory” with the participation of schoolchildren from Russia, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, will come as the most remarkable event of the year. I have no doubt the trip will stand out as a memorable event in the lives of the children,” she said.
According to Valentina Matvienko, the friendship between the peoples of Russia and Kyrgyzstan, tempered by the ordeal of the war years, will always serve as a reliable foundation for multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, including their parliamentary component.
The Federation Council Speaker thanked the President of Kyrgyzstan for focusing on interparliamentary cooperation, which is making strides. On 25 April, Chairman of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurlanbek Shakiev visited the upper house of the Russian parliament. In March, the spouse of the President of Kyrgyzstan, Aigul Japarova, participated in the First Russian-Kyrgyz Women's Forum. Agreements have been reached to promote interparliamentary cooperation and to continue to joint work to promote the women's agenda.
The President of Kyrgyzstan said Russia was among Kyrgyzstan’s main strategic partners and allies. He noted the high level of parliamentary events in Moscow. “Our countries’ parliaments are effectively cooperating at all platforms, in particular, in the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member States, the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, and other international organisations. Bilateral interparliamentary cooperation has enormous potential. I hope work in this area will continue,” Sadyr Japarov said. He also pointed out the high level of trade, economic and investment cooperation between the two countries.
Matvienko and Japarov touched upon setting up an offsite IPA CIS meeting in Kyrgyzstan this year, promoting multilateral cooperation within the EAEU, the CSTO, and the SCO, and strengthening trade and economic ties. “It’s important to promote cooperation between the regions of the two countries and to make wider use of the great potential of these ties,” the Federation Council Speaker said. “The Federation Council stands ready to support and promote these activities as part of its efforts within the IPA.”
The parties discussed humanitarian contacts and mentioned the Children of the Commonwealth project pursued by the International Cultural and Educational Forum of the CIS Member States, which has been held annually since 2013 at the initiative of the Jogorku Kenesh and the CIS IPA. They noted an increase in the number of Kyrgyz students studying at Russian universities, as well as a project to send Russian teachers to schools in Kyrgyzstan and the upcoming beginning of the construction of nine schools in the Kyrgyz Republic with instruction in Russian. “We, the legislators, will do our best to have this important project implemented, including in terms of an early ratification of the corresponding intergovernmental agreement,” Valentina Matvienko said.
The event was attended by Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Defence and Security Viktor Bondarev, Chair of Federation Council Committee on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management Alexander Dvoinykh, First Deputy Federation Council Speaker Committee on International Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy and member of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Alexander Varfolomeev, Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs and Deputy Co-Chair representing the Russian part of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the Federal Assembly and the Jogorku Kenesh Farit Mukhametshin.
Following the meeting, the Federation Council Speaker gave the President of Kyrgyzstan a capsule filled with earth from the battlefields outside Rzhev.
The head of the Kyrgyz state left an entry in the Book of Honoured Guests of the Upper House of the Russian Parliament.