{"id":196429,"date":"2025-12-22T13:30:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T13:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/196429\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T13:30:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T13:30:06","slug":"from-gdp-to-ai-eaeu-leaders-review-integration-milestones-in-st-petersburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/196429\/","title":{"rendered":"From GDP to AI: EAEU Leaders Review Integration Milestones in St. Petersburg"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) <a href=\"https:\/\/rg.ru\/2025\/12\/21\/piaterka-za-razvitie-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener follow external noreferrer nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" class=\"ext-link\">gathered<\/a> on December 21 at the Yeltsin Presidential Library to assess the bloc\u2019s progress and outline future integration priorities. The summit was attended by the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, along with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and representatives from Indonesia, Iran, and Cuba.<\/p>\n<p>Opening the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a year-end review and highlighted key decisions aimed at deepening cooperation. He stated that the EAEU has solidified its position as an independent and self-sufficient center within the evolving multipolar world. Putin pointed to rising combined GDP figures and noted that EAEU membership has contributed to economic stability and improved living standards across member states.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41258\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-41258\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/photo_2025-12-22-14.54.23-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-41258\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">@Akorda<\/p>\n<p>He also cited progress in building the union\u2019s payment infrastructure, removing trade barriers, and enhancing transport connectivity. Among individual economies, Kyrgyzstan stood out with a GDP growth rate exceeding 10%.<\/p>\n<p>Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, addressing the summit as chair of the EAEU, called for renewed approaches to economic engagement with third countries over the next five years. He endorsed deeper ties with what he termed the \u201cglobal majority,\u201d while acknowledging existing challenges, such as delays in establishing unified energy markets and hesitancy among member states to form a common financial market. Nonetheless, he described the Union State of Russia and Belarus as the \u201clocomotive of integration\u201d in the post-Soviet region.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41259\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-41259\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/photo_2025-12-22-14.54.26-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-41259\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">@Akorda<\/p>\n<p>Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev <a href=\"https:\/\/www.akorda.kz\/ru\/glava-gosudarstva-prinyal-uchastie-v-zasedanii-vysshego-evraziyskogo-ekonomicheskogo-soveta-21115343\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener follow external noreferrer nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" class=\"ext-link\">emphasized<\/a> the EAEU\u2019s milestone year as it entered its second decade. He projected a 2% increase in the union\u2019s combined GDP in 2025 and noted that intra-union direct investment had surpassed $20 billion. Kazakhstan alone saw a nearly sevenfold increase in EAEU-related investment from $600 million in 2015 to $4 billion in 2024.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41260\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-41260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/photo_2025-12-22-14.54.46-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-41260\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">@Akorda<\/p>\n<p>Tokayev also proposed the systematic integration of artificial intelligence technologies into EAEU operations, from trade forecasting to customs duties assessment. He highlighted the union\u2019s potential as a global transport and logistics hub and advocated for the swift implementation of the Caspian Sea shipping agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev <a href=\"https:\/\/president.uz\/ru\/lists\/view\/8821\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener follow external noreferrer nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" class=\"ext-link\">noted<\/a> that Uzbekistan\u2019s trade with EAEU countries had nearly doubled to $20 billion over four years of observer status. He called for the phased removal of trade barriers and suggested creating a joint Uzbekistan-EAEU coordination group to address tariff and non-tariff restrictions.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41261\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-41261\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/photo_2025-12-22-14.54.38-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-41261\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">@Akorda<\/p>\n<p>Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov <a href=\"https:\/\/president.kg\/ru\/news\/21\/39949\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener follow external noreferrer nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" class=\"ext-link\">reported<\/a> that intra-EAEU trade had approached $100 billion in 2025, describing this as a reflection of \u201ctrust and genuine interest\u201d among member states. He highlighted a GDP growth rate of 10.2% for Kyrgyzstan over the first 11 months of the year and reaffirmed the country\u2019s focus on food and energy security.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41262\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-41262\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/photo_2025-12-22-14.54.32-300x199.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-41262\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"> @Akorda<\/p>\n<p>Kazakhstan will assume the EAEU chairmanship in 2026. The next summit of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council is scheduled for May 28-29 in Astana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) gathered on December 21 at the Yeltsin Presidential Library to assess&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-196429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}