ALMATY, June 11, 2018 – Within Kazakhstan's chairmanshipin the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Almaty hostedthe regular meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers.

The event was attended by delegations of all CSTO Member States: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Andrei Dapkiunas, Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Kairat Abdrakhmanov, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Aibek Omokeev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Sirojiddin Muhriddin, as well as CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov.

The participants exchanged views on the international agenda and the further development of foreign policy cooperation within the Organization.

As it was stated following the Councilmeeting, the participantsexchanged viewson the current state and prospects for the development of the situation in Afghanistan. The meeting confirmed the general position that the crisis in Syria could be resolved only through political and diplomatic means. In this regard, the role of the Astana Process in stabilizing the situation in Syria was particularly emphasized.

The sides expressed their hope that the upcoming talks between the leaders of the United States and the DPRK would be an important step in resolving issues related to the DPRK nuclear program, global disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Furthermore, the agenda included the development and strengthening of cooperation between the CSTO and international agencies. It is symbolic that Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the CSTO coincided with its membership in the UN Security Council. Thus, Kazakhstan is working closely to align the agendas of the two organizations.

In his statement, Minister Abdrakhmanov noted that Kazakhstan's chairmanship focused on the implementation of the priorities put forward by President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the anniversarySummit in Minsk last November.

They include such relevant issues as the development and strengthening of military and military-technical cooperation, the Organization's involvement in creating an international counter-terrorism system, the development of joint approaches to counter cybersecurity threats, and specific measures to combat illicit drug trafficking.

Kazakhstan considers necessary to further enhance the cooperation of the CSTO with the CIS, CARICC, CICA, other international organizations and agencies. It is notable that most of the CSTO ministerial meeting participants arrived in Almaty from Qingdao that hosted the SCO Summit.

Another important area of cooperation with CSTO partners is the further implementation of the initiative of the President of Kazakhstan to develop a code of conduct to achieve a terrorism-free world, which is being actively promoted in the UN Security Council. The main objectives of this document are to create a broad international coalition of partner countries to counter terrorism and achieve a terrorism-free world by 2045.

The Council of Foreign Ministers paid special attention to the Organization'sfurther institutional strengthening. In particular, the draft Protocol onAmendments to the Agreement on the Legal Status of the CSTO was agreed upon.

During the meeting, the parties adopted a joint statement on the 30^th anniversary of the entry into force of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. “Kazakhstan, as a party to this historic treaty, confirms its full commitment to this document and calls on all parties to preserve it and strictly observe it,”Minister Abdrakhmanov said.

Overall, the CSTO ministerial meetingagreed on a number of practical documents, the most important of which will be submitted for consideration by the heads of state at the CSTO Summit in Astana this autumn, which will also be chaired by Kazakhstan.