Heads of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member nations signed a number of multilateral documents at the summit that took place in Moscow yesterday. 

Among them is a statement of the Collective Security Council in honor of the 30th anniversary of the treaty and the 20th anniversary of the organization. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that it is planned, among other things, to sign a joint statement, which, taking into account the experience gained during the peacekeeping operation in Kazakhstan, will confirm the determination of the CSTO countries to continue to cooperate as partners in various areas of military and defense development and to increase coordinated action on the international stage.

In accordance with Article 13 of the CSTO Charter, the Collective Security Council is the highest body of the Organization. The Council considers the fundamental issues of the Organization’s activities and makes decisions aimed at the realization of its goals and objectives, as well as ensures the coordination and joint activities of the Member States to achieve these goals.  The Council includes heads of member states. Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ministers of Defense, Secretaries of Security Councils of Member States, the Secretary General of the Organization, Plenipotentiary Representatives of Member States to the Organization and invited persons can take part in meetings of the Council.  The Council has the right to establish, on a permanent or temporary basis, the working and subsidiary bodies of the Organization.  The Chairman of the Council (hereinafter - the Chairman) is the head of state on whose territory the regular session of the Council is held, unless the Council decides otherwise.  His rights and obligations remain with him until the next regular session of the Council.

Created in 1992, the Collective Security Treaty Organization is a Russia-led military alliance grouping the six former Soviet republics of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.