On January 22, 2026, a meeting was held between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov and the Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Dmitry Mariyasin, who arrived in Ashgabat to participate in the events of the SPECA High-Level Week, held from January 20 to 23 this year.
During the meeting, issues related to the further development of cooperation between Turkmenistan and UNECE were discussed, including interaction in the fields of sustainable development, energy, transport and transit connectivity, and regional integration.
The Turkmen side reaffirmed its commitment to the UNECE mandate and emphasized the importance of the Commission as an effective platform for implementing UN global solutions at the regional level. In this context, the significance of Turkmenistan’s high-level participation in the 71st session of UNECE in April 2025 was noted.
Particular attention was paid to issues of sustainable energy, the reduction of methane emissions, as well as the development of sustainable and safe transport corridors.
The importance of the practical implementation of the outcomes of the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC3) and the Avaza Programme of Action for 2024–2034 was also emphasized, in the implementation of which UNECE is considered one of the key regional partners.
At the end of the meeting, the sides expressed their readiness to further strengthen constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation.