Working visit of President Serzh Sargsyan to the Republic of Belarus

President Serzh Sargsyan, who is in Belarus on a working visit, is attending the scheduled session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which was first held in a narrow format and then in the format of a plenary session with the participation of official delegations. The meeting of the heads of CSTO-member States has already started in Minsk, attended by CSTO Secretary-General Yuri Khachaturov. The Presidents will discuss the whole complex of measures aimed at the further development of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

The session agenda also features discussions on international development trends, topical issues of international security, development and strengthening of the CSTO military component, as well as issues related to the composition of the Secretariat and the CSTO joint staff, distribution of military positions in the General Headquarters and the CSTO budget adoption.

The Heads of State will adopt a declaration on the 25th anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty and the 15th anniversary of establishment of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. They will sign relevant documents on improving information security and counteracting illegal migration. The Presidents will also discuss and approve the draft CSTO Collective Security Strategy Implementation Action Plan till 2025.

The President of Kazakhstan, which is assuming the CSTO Collective Security Council chairmanship, will present the priorities during Kazakhstan’s chairmanship. The Presidents will also hear the CSTO Secretary-General’s annual report on the activities carried out in 2016-2017 and the implementation of the decisions made at the CSTO Collective Security Council’s previous session. 

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The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Collective Security Council session ended in Minsk. At the plenary session that followed the narrow panel meeting, the Presidents of Member States signed a number of documents relating to the implementation of the CSTO Collective Security Strategy for the upcoming years, the strengthening of the military component of the organization, as well as the interaction in defense and foreign policy-related matters and a number of other spheres.

In the framework of the session the Heads of State discussed over two dozen agenda items and adopted political statements, including the Armenia-initiated statement “On support for OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ mediation efforts in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process.” The CSTO Presidents once again reiterated their support for the efforts exerted by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the three principles for conflict settlement: peoples’ right to self-determination, non-use of force or threat of force and territorial integrity.