Zas sees possibility of establishing full-scale CSTO-CIS-SCO co-operation

The CSTO Secretary General, Stanislav Zas, sees an opportunity to establish full-scale co-operation between the CSTO, the CIS and the SCO – as he stated in Yerevan at a joint meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defence Ministers and the Committee of Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils, BelTA reports

"In order to consolidate efforts to ensure international and regional security, work continues in the CSTO to unite the potentials of international organisations that share our goals and principles. We attach great importance to the early acquisition by the Commonwealth of Independent States of observer status with the CSTO. The compatibility of the interests of the CSTO, the CIS and the SCO, the proximity of their approaches to many pressing international problems make it possible to move on to establishing full-scale trilateral co-operation," Mr. Zas said, adding that much attention is paid to strengthening liaisons with the UN. According to the CSTO Secretary General, consistent work continues to integrate the collective peacekeeping potential of the CSTO into UN peacekeeping operations. “At the current stage, it is important to complete the ratification of the protocol on amendments to the CSTO peacekeeping agreement, which provides for the introduction of a co-ordinating state in the CSTO authorised to act on behalf of partners in contacts with the UN peacekeeping secretariat," he said.

Another area of joint work is the improvement of the CSTO crisis response mechanisms. A peacekeeping operation on the territory of Kazakhstan in January 2022 became the first practical experience in this regard.