Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in the session of the CSTO Collective Security Council
November 23, 2022 Yerevan, Armenia
The head of state took part in the session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which took place in Yerevan.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon also attended the summit, chaired by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
At the beginning of his speech, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev thanked the participants of the session for congratulations on the occasion of his victory in the early presidential elections.
– I want to emphasize that the strategic course of Kazakhstan to comprehensively strengthen relations of friendship, good neighborliness and mutually beneficial cooperation with allies and partners in the region remains unchanged. We are firmly committed to continue making efforts to maintain a high level of relations with your states both in bilateral and multilateral formats” , the President said.
Further, the Head of State informed the participants about the position of our country in various areas of cooperation in the CSTO format. In particular, he noted that the final meeting of the leaders of the Organization is taking place in the context of complex geopolitical contradictions and unprecedented challenges.
– Increased turbulence in international affairs has not bypassed the CSTO space either. Conflicts continue to occur in our region, undermining stability and security throughout the Eurasian space. Under these conditions, it is vital to maintain and develop an open and constructive dialogue. This is an effective and acceptable way out of complex crises and disagreements,” the President said. In this context, the Head of State supported the steps aimed at the diplomatic settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
– We are all interested in the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We hope that the peacekeeping efforts of the Russian side will make it possible to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict exclusively through political and diplomatic means and bring the parties to the signing of a peace treaty,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.
The President dwelled separately on the situation in Afghanistan.
– The search for ways to resolve the situation in this state is one of the basic factors for ensuring security on the southern borders of the CSTO. Kazakhstan aims to continue practical cooperation with the Afghan leadership to solve the country’s acute socio-economic problems. We provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan,” the head of our state said.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for finding peaceful ways to resolve the conflict around Ukraine. – As for Ukraine, I think that the time has come for a joint collective search for a formula for peace. Any war ends with peace negotiations. Every chance should be used to achieve at least a truce. The Istanbul Round of negotiations gave hope for this, but the agreement was “undermined” for various reasons. We must not allow the fraternal Russian and Ukrainian peoples to part ways for tens or hundreds of years with mutual unhealed grievances,” the President believes.
The President made a number of proposals for the further development of cooperation within the association. In particular, he called the development of the CSTO peacekeeping potential a priority for the near term.
In conclusion, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev thanked the Armenian side and personally Nikol Pashinyan for the fruitful work as chairman of the CSTO and wished success in the upcoming chairmanship in 2023 to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. As a result of the session, a number of documents were adopted. As part of the planned rotation, the heads of state decided to appoint the representative of Kazakhstan, Imangali Tasmagambetov, to the post of Secretary General of the CSTO from January 1, 2023 for a period of three years.