On 17 September 2026, a meeting was held at the Moscow Office of the CIS Executive Committee between CIS Secretary-General Sergey Lebedev, Head of the CIS Observation Mission and CIS Deputy Secretary-General Ilkhom Nematov, and Head of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Observation Mission on the elections of deputies to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the Ninth Convocation Piao Yangfan.
Sergey Lebedev and Piao Yangfan discussed the work of the new CIS Plus cooperation format, the SCO’s activities as an Observer to the CIS, and the upcoming meeting between the leadership of the CIS Executive Committee and the SCO at the next CIS Heads of State Summit in Turkmenistan.
The parties exchanged views on the progress of preparations for the parliamentary elections in Russia and discussed the work of the observation missions of both organisations during the monitoring of the electoral campaign.
Ilkhom Nematov spoke about the principles governing the CIS Observation Mission, some findings from its long-term observation of the current election campaign, and recent meetings with representatives of Russian federal authorities, election commissions at various levels—both central and regional—and Russian political parties.
Piao Yangfan noted that the SCO Observation Mission had begun its work on 15 September. The Mission is following the same principles as the CIS Mission: respect for sovereignty, non-interference in the internal affairs of the state, goodwill, openness and transparency. The SCO Observation Mission comprises representatives of six states.
Piao Yangfan also emphasised that the Commonwealth has considerable experience in observing electoral campaigns. Therefore, the exchange of views on related issues with the leadership of the CIS Executive Committee is of particular importance to the SCO Observation Mission.