Currently, more than 47,000 citizens of Turkmenistan are studying at Russian universities, of which about 7,000 are receiving education at the expense of the Russian Federation's state budget. This was reported by Ivan Volynkin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Turkmenistan, in an article for the newspaper ‘Neutral Turkmenistan’, according to the news resource Turkmenportal.

According to him, there is still a lot of interest in Russian culture in Turkmenistan. In the first half of 2025, performances by Albert Zhalilov, Honoured Artist of Tatarstan, İlya Kuzmin, soloist of the E.V.Kolobov ‘Novaya Opera’ Theatre of Moscow and the musical groups ‘Turk's Choir’ and SOPRANO were sold out in Ashgabat. Kolobov, and the musical groups ‘Turetsky Choir’ and SOPRANO. The Russian film festival held in March also received a positive response from the audience.

The Ambassador noted that Russia remains one of Turkmenistan's leading trade and economic partners. Major Russian companies such as ‘Gazprom’, ‘Tatneft’, ‘Kamaz’, the ‘Vozrozhdenie’ group of companies and others operate in the country.

Interregional ties remain an important area of cooperation. Among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, Astrakhan and Chelyabinsk regions are the most active.

According to the diplomat, Moscow and Ashgabat demonstrate similar positions on key issues of the global and regional agenda, including ensuring international security. He recalled that at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, a resolution initiated by Turkmenistan, ‘2025 – International Year of Peace and Trust,’ was adopted, with Russia as a co-author.

‘Our interests also coincide within other international platforms, such as the CIS, the Caspian Five and the OSCE,’ Volynkin emphasised. This year, Turkmenistan is co-chairing the highest bodies of the CIS and plans to assume the chairmanship in 2026.

One example of strengthening cooperation was the 16th International Economic Forum ‘Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum,’ held in Kazan from 13 to 18 May. The Turkmenistan delegation was led by the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.