Leaders from Russia, three other ex-Soviet states discuss

Russian President Vladimir Putin on
Saturday met with the leaders of Belarus, Ukraine and
Kazakhstan to discuss their nascent trade bloc that is
under pressure from members' competing interests, AP reported.
Presidents Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, Nursultan
Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and Alexander Lukashenko of
Belarus joined Putin for the discussions one day after a
summit of leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent
States, a loose alliance made up of ex-Soviet states.
In opening remarks, Putin said the leaders would discuss
«some problems connected with the implementation of plans
for building the Common Economic Space,» which aims at
creating a free-trade zone among the four countries.
Both the CIS and the Common Economic Space are under
strain as some former Soviet republics look to move out of
Russia's economic and political shadow and join NATO and
the European Union.
--mor
1423 Local Time
1123 GMT