India, Oct. 10 -- Russia's President Vladimir Putin hailed cooperation with other ex-Soviet nations on Friday and vowed to help strengthen economic and other ties between them.

Putin said the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose grouping of former Soviet nations, had become an "authoritative regional integration structure" helping maintain "economic, social, cultural and humanitarian ties developed by our peoples over centuries." Speaking at a CIS summit in the Caspian Sea resort of Avaza, outside the port city of Turkmenbashi, in Turkmenistan, he said that the Russian language "works as a powerful uniting force across the vast space of the Commonwealth." He didn't mention Russia's war in Ukraine, but hailed a "stable financ...