Issues of regional and international security will be high on the agenda of a Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit, which kicks off in the Kazakh capital Astana on November 28.
Who's Taking Part?
The summit will be attended by the presidents of five member states, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan’s Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan’s Sadyr Zhaparov, and Tajikistan’s Emomali Rahmon. The sixth member state, Armenia, will not participate but has no objections to the planned documents being adopted at the summit.
Also in attendance will be CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov, as well as Secretaries General of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Sergey Lebedev and Zhang Ming, respectively.
What's the Agenda?
Apart from security issues, participants will discuss the situation in the CSTO area of responsibility, summarize the results of joint work, and determine plans for celebrating the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War.
Separately, the CSTO leaders will touch upon the escalation of relations between Russia and the West. Kyrgyzstan, for its part, will present its priorities within the framework of the country’s CSTO chairmanship in 2025.
What's to be Signed?
The CSTO leaders are expected to sign at least 14 documents, including the summit’s final declaration, which will reflect the members’ unified approach to key issues of international and regional agenda, according to Russia’s presidential aide Yury Ushakov.
Other documents will pertain to strengthening allied relations, increasing joint combat capability, improving crisis response mechanisms, and implementing practical measures to strengthen the Tajik-Afghan border, per Ushakov.