Mr. Putin presented gold rings at an unofficial CIS summit held in St. Petersburg. Petersburg on December 26. According to Kommersant, President Putin holds the ninth ring.
The rings are engraved with the CIS symbol and the words "Happy New Year 2023", and the smaller words - "Russia" (where the summit was held).
The Community of Independent States (CIS) includes countries in the former Soviet Union. The 8 leaders presented with rings by President Putin include: President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko; President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev; President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev; President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov; President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon; President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdymukhamedov; President of Uzbekistan Deputy Director Putin Putin Pashin Pashinyan and Prime Minister of Ukraine Nikol Pashinyan.
According to Moscow Times and Kommersant, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko - one of Putin's strongest supporters - has worn a ring on his hand.
At the CIS summit on December 26-27, President Putin reaffirmed cooperation between member states despite some tensions between Russia and the West over the military campaign in Ukraine.
