CSTO Summit
The President of Russia attended the CSTO Collective Security Council meeting in Astana.
November 8, 2018
18:00
Astana
Participants in the CSTO Collective Security Council meeting. From left to right: Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, Vladimir Putin, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and Acting Secretary General of the CSTO Valery Semerikov.
Vladimir Putin, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and Acting Secretary General of the CSTO Valery Semerikov met in restricted format, followed by expanded talks attended by members of the delegations.
During the meeting, the participants exchanged views on the CSTO’s work in the context of ensuring international and regional security. They adopted a series of decisions, including a regulation codifying partner and observer status in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.
The President of Russia updated the audience on the strategic stability and arms control situation in the context of the unilateral decision of the United States to withdraw from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles; the prospects for possible negotiations with the US side on the INF Treaty; the dialogueof participants of the Astana process and the so-called Small Group on Syria that began in Istanbul.
The summit participants devoted considerable time to selecting a candidate for the next Secretary General of the CSTO and agreed to make a final decision on December 6 in St Petersburg.
A range of documents were adopted following the meeting. The heads of delegations of the CSTO member states signed the CSTO Collective Security Council Declaration.
They also signed the Statement of the Heads of CSTO Member States on coordinated measures against parties to armed conflicts on the side of international terrorist groups.
In particular, the documents signed amend the Collective Security Treaty of May 15, 1992, and the Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation of October 7, 2002; make personnel changes to the military contingents and special task units of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces; regulate the development of the collective system for controlling illegal migration until 2025; and promote a coordinated information policy in the interests of the CSTO member states.
Vladimir Putin arrived in Astana
The President of Russia has arrived in the Republic of Kazakhstan for a two-day working visit.
November 8, 2018
14:00
Astana
Arrival in Astana.
On November 8, Vladimir Putin will attend a session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO). The participants will discuss key international and regional issues and the further promotion of cooperation between CSTO members. They are to sign about 20 documents, including the CSTO Collective Security Council Declaration.
On November 9, Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev will address the plenary session of the 15th Russia-Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum in Petropavlovsk and will visit an exhibition of promising joint tourism programmes. A number of bilateral agreements have been drafted for signing.
Also on the second day of the visit, the two presidents are to hold talks and attend a presentation of the Baiterek space centre project.
