Russian, Kazakh, Turkmen leaders hold energy summit

The talks between President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan, and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov are expected to focus on the proposed construction of a pipeline that would carry natural gas from Turkmenistan through Kazakhstan and Russia to Europe.

On May 10, the Russian and Kazakh presidents agreed that more Kazakh oil exports to Europe will be shipped through Russian territory.

As the three-way summit gets under way in Turkmenistan, Polish President Lech Kaczynski is hosting a separate two-day energy summit that starts today in the Polish city of Krakow.

The presidents of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Kazakhstan have been invited to the meeting to discuss possibilities for transporting oil from the Central Asian region to West European pipelines without going through Russia. Kazakhstan's Nazarbaev opted out of the Polish summit to attend the talks in Ashgabat. RFE/RL