The operational management of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is not in limbo, despite the lack of consensus on the appointment of a new CSTO general secretary, and the situation is currently being resolved, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2019) The operational management of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is not in limbo, despite the lack of consensus on the appointment of a new CSTO general secretary, and the situation is currently being resolved, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
The procedure for appointing the new CSTO secretary general is currently stuck due to Armenia's reluctance to pass the leadership in the organization to Belarus.
"Neither the Kremlin nor any of the other CSTO members are frustrated, and there is no operational leadership vacuum in the CSTO because, as you know, there is an acting secretary general who will perform the duties. This person is not a stranger, and he will perform his responsibilities until the situation with the new secretary general is resolved," Peskov told reporters, asked about discussions around agreeing on the new CSTO leadership.
The spokesman confirmed that some disagreements around the election of a new CSTO chief persisted.
"Indeed, there are some disagreements among the members that are currently being settled; this process is ongoing," Peskov said.
On November 2, Armenia prematurely recalled CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov, an Armenian representative in the organization. His deputy, Valery Semerikov, became the acting head in his place. According to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the CSTO decided on November 8 that a representative of Belarus should become the next secretary general since, according to the charter, leadership was transferred alphabetically, and Belarus came after Armenia. At the same time, Yerevan insisted it should retain the leadership until 2020.
In late December, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed a draft decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council on the appointment of Stanislav Zas as CSTO secretary general. Zas has already visited Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Russia to agree his appointment and said he was ready to visit Armenia at any time convenient for the Armenian leadership. However, the Armenian side has said his visit to Yerevan was not planned.
The CSTO includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan as full members. Afghanistan and Serbia are observer states.
