Russia's Lavrov to attend CSTO ministerial meeting in Astana Military-political issues are on the agenda

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, which will be held in the Kazakh capital Astana on November 28, said Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry's Spokesperson.

The minister will take part in a joint meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defence Ministers and the Committee of Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils, she said, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

"The event will be held under the chairmanship of the Kazakh side in Astana, before the session of the CSTO Collective Security Council scheduled for the same day," said Zakharova.

During the meeting, the foreign and defence ministers, as well as secretaries of the CSTO councils will discuss "the military and political situation in the regions of collective security, the results of cooperation within the CSTO and the prospects for further development of the collective security system."

Previously, on November 13, Imangali Tasmagambetov, Secretary General of the CSTO, held separate meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Andrei Belousov. With Lavrov, Tasmagambetov discussed preparations for the upcoming CSTO Collective Security Council session, scheduled for November 28 in Astana, as well as improving the Organization’s Secretariat operations. The meeting also focused on military cooperation within the CSTO and the development of future defence collaboration, alongside further preparations for the Collective Security Council meeting.

The CSTO is a regional interstate organisation comprising Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The main purpose of the CSTO is to protect its member states from external armed attack. The purposes of the Organization are to strengthen peace and international and regional security and stability and to ensure collective protection of independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Member States, in the attainment of which Member States shall give priority to political means.

By Khagan Isayev