REFUSAL OF LUKASHENKO TO TAKE PART IN CSTO CSC NOT TO AFFECT ORGANIZATION’S ACTIVITY: PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA

ArmInfo
2009-06-15 12:09:00

ArmInfo. Refusal of Alexander Lukashenko to participate in CSTO
Collective Security Council (CSC) will not affect the Organization’s
activity, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev said at the final
press-conference of CSTO CSC.

‘I hope an individual stance of one or another state will not affect
the efficiency of CSTO activity. Each state has the right for an
independent stance with respect to the membership in one or another
organization. The most important is for us to learn to separate
bilateral problems from multilateral decisions’, the president
emphasized. ‘As for refusal of the Belarusian party not to participate
in today’s summit of CSTO, this its own decision and we treat it with
respect. However, this decision is somewhat unclear to me, as it is
incorrect to gear a multilateral format to one or another bilateral
problems’, Medvedev resumed.

To note, the Belarusian delegation did not attended CSTO summit
having explained its step by the ‘economic discrimination by one of
the member-states’. In particular, such demarche of Minsk was caused
by the restrictions imposed by Russia on supplies of the Belarusian
dairy products.

To note, in view of refusal of Belarus to take part in Moscow summit
of the Collective Security Treat Organization, Armenia has handed
over the temporary chairmanship in CSTO to Russia. To note, the
chairmanship in CSTO passed from Kyrgyzstan to Armenia in 2008. CSTO
members are seven states – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.