Putin to take part in CSTO Collective Security Councilc meeting in Minsk

MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday will pay a working visit to Minsk to take part in the meeting of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Post-Soviet security bloc, the Kremlin press service said. "There are plans to discuss key issues of cooperation in the organization’s framework, topical international and regional issues, and also measures on further improving the CSTO’s collective security system," the press service said. "It is planned to sign a number of documents, including a declaration on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty and the 15th anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty Organization," the Kremlin said. According to the press service of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, other topics for discussion will include "major problems of the current global situation" and further development of the CSTO. On Tuesday, Putin received CSTO’s new Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov. The summit of CSTO nations’ leaders will be preceded by a joint session of the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defense Ministers and the Committee of Security Council Secretaries. Russia will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. The meeting is expected to discuss the implementation of resolutions of the October 2016 session of the CSTO Collective Security Council and priority tasks for the period of Kazakhstan’s presidency of the CSTO. Apart from that, participants will discuss draft documents to be referred to the heads of state of the Collective Security Council member countries. "Special attention will be focused on practical aspects of strengthening cooperation within the CSTO, including the organization’s response to both traditional and new challenges and threats to peace and security in the zone of its responsibility," the Russian foreign ministry said. The collective security treaty was signed on May 15, 1992 in Tashkent, and the agreement on the establishment of the Collective Security Treaty Organization was inked on October 7, 2002. As of now, the organization includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Read more