ArmInfo. The deadlines for signing the decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council on the appointment of the new Secretary General are not defined; all heads of the organization's member states must sign this document, Spokesman for the CSTO secretariat Vladimir Zainetdinov told RIA Novosti.
On Friday, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, held a working meeting with the Head of State Security Council of the country Stanislav Zas and signed a draft decision of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO on his appointment as Secretary General of the organization. Earlier, Zas had already visited Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Russia to coordinate his appointment. At the same time, the press secretary of acting Prime Minister of Armenia Arman Yeghoyan stated that holding a meeting between the Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the candidate for the post of CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas is not scheduled.
"This decision must be signed by six heads of state. The secretary general is appointed by consensus, six heads of state," Zaynetdinov told RIA Novosti. According to him, the CSTO secretariat does not yet have information on whether any of the heads of state signed a decision other than Lukashenko, as well as "no deadlines" have been set for this.
"I have no information about this," he explained.
Zas said on Friday that he was ready to hold meetings in Armenia and hoped for a consensus on his appointment. At the same time, according to him, the CSTO Charter provides for a procedure for making decisions in a limited format, when not every country agrees with a particular issue. At the same time, Zas hopes for a compromise on this issue.
The representative of Armenia, Yuri Khachaturov, who previously held the post of the CSTO Secretary General, was dismissed from office, his deputy Valery Semerikov became acting Secretary General. Armenian investigators charged Khachaturov with overthrowing the constitutional order in a criminal case on dispersing protest actions on March 1, 2008. The court released Khachaturov on bail. After that, Armenia offered the CSTO countries to begin the process of replacing the organization's secretary general, insisting that the representative of Armenia should remain the secretary general.