Putin reaffirms focus on neighbors

Russian President Vladimir Putin snubbed a G8 summit in the United States this weekend and instead made a summit of post-Soviet leaders his first meeting with foreign heads of state since his May 7 inauguration.

The summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States on Sunday, along with the summit of Collective Security Treaty Organization days ago, reaffirmed Putin's main foreign policy direction in his new term, analysts said.

Putin called for more economic integration and cooperation in innovation with neighboring countries during the CIS summit. On Wednesday, an informal summit discussed ways to further integrate the natural resource, technological, intellectual and labor potential of the countries.