The decision was taken at the EAEU meeting under Russia’s presidency in Moscow on Wednesday and Thursday.
The EAEU comprises Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The EAEU meet, which was attended by the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan besides over 2,000 delegates, also discussed synergies between the grouping and Brics-SCO ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in India in July and the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India and China) summit in South Africa in August.
During his visit to India last month, Russian deputy prime minister Denis Manturov had discussed the FTA in detail with external affairs minister S Jaishankar. During a dialogue hosted by Ficci, Manturov and Jaishankar had said that they had entered “advanced negotiations” over the FTA.