Vladimir Putin presented the participants of the CIS summit with eight rings with the symbols of the Commonwealth, Kommersant writes . Putin kept the ninth ring for himself.
The rings are engraved with the symbols of the CIS and the inscription "Happy New Year 2023". Also on the rings there is a smaller inscription – "Russia" (this is where the summit took place).
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received a gift from Putin.
The nine rings of power are the central artifacts of the John Tolkien series of books around which the entire main plot is built. In the books of the Lord of the Rings series, Sauron used them to win people over to his side. Those who took the rings became ring-bearing ghosts (Nazgul). Nine rings were given to nine human kings, all of whom became ghosts.