30 Nov 2017 12:44

Documents for CSTO summit agreed on

MINSK. Nov 30 (Interfax) - The defense and foreign ministers and the security council secretaries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)'s member states have finalized a package of documents for the CSTO summit which opens in Minsk on Thursday.

More than 20 draft documents to be submitted to the CSTO heads of state have been prepared, and other documents were signed at a joint meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defense Ministers, and the Committee of Security Council Secretaries of the CSTO in Minsk.

Some of the documents signed address the operational preparation and combat training of CSTO forces and hardware.

Also agreed on were draft declarations of the chiefs of state on the 25th anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty and the 15th anniversary of the organization, a decision on formalizing the institution of partnership in the CSTO format, and statements by the heads of state "On the Situation in and around Syria," "On the Support for the Mediating Efforts of the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh," and "On Joint Measures for Strengthening the Defense Potential of CSTO Member States."

A draft agreement on cooperation in the provision of information security and a draft decision on the improvement of measures against illegal immigration were also agreed on.

A draft decision on the plan of the implementation of the CSTO Collective Security Strategy through 2025, the CSTO emblem and flag, and the organization's budget for 2018 were also agreed on.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev attended the meeting on behalf of Russia.

The coordinated drafts will be presented for the consideration of the CSTO heads of state, who will meet in Minsk on Thursday.