Kyrgyz FM Kazakbayev takes part in meeting of CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers

Bishkek, Dec. 2, 2020. /Kabar/. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Ruslan Kazakbayev participated in a regular meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states held Monday via videoconference. According to the press service of the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry, the meeting participants discussed the measures taken by CSTO member states to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and noted the need for comprehensive analysis of its consequences. Minister Kazakbayev thanked CSTO member states for the support provided to Kyrgyzstan in combating the spread of coronavirus and stressed the need for further mutual assistance of partners. The parties also discussed further steps to strengthen CSTO cooperation with international organizations, primarily with the CIS and SCO in all areas of mutual interest. Within the framework of the meeting, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas informed the members of the Council of Foreign Ministers about the work done and results achieved in the intersessional period. Also, report of UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on integration of the CSTO peacekeeping component into the UN peacekeeping system was heard. The ministers congratulated the Tajik side over the chairmanship of the Organization in the next year and wished success. At the end of the meeting, the foreign ministers approved draft decisions on further development of political interaction among the CSTO member states, improvement of military cooperation, personnel training system, financial, economic and personnel support of the Organization's activities, which are submitted for consideration at the session of the CSTO Collective Security Council scheduled for Dec. 2 this year in the mode of videoconferencing. In addition, the Joint Statement of the CSTO Foreign Ministers on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the end of the World War II was adopted, as well as the draft Declaration of Collective Security of the CSTO and the Statement of the Collective Security Council on the formation of a fair and sustainable world order, the latter of which is a joint initiative of the Kyrgyz and Russian sides. The next CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers is planned to be held in Tajikistan in May 2021.