CSTO summit in Yerevan: President Tokayev addresses growing turbulence, situation in Ukraine and Afghanistan
Key outcomes
The meeting wrapped up Armenia’s presidency at CSTO. Belarus took over the CSTO presidency from Armenia.
The leaders signed more than 10 documents, including on the cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the budget for 2023 and equipping the CSTO peacekeeping forces with modern arms, military and special hardware.
Another major news is the appointment of Imangali Tasmagambetov, a former ambassador of Kazakhstan to Russia (2017-2019) and former prime minister of Kazakhstan (2002-2003), to the post of the CSTO Secretary-General, starting from January 1, 2023, for three years as part of the scheduled rotation.
Key takeaways
In his remarks, Tokayev emphasized the rising geopolitical turbulence in the region. Among the measures that Tokayev suggested for further development of the cooperation within CSTO, he highlighted the development of the CSTO peacekeeping potential as a near-term priority.
«Increased turbulence in international affairs has affected the CSTO space. Conflicts that undermine stability and security in the entire Eurasian space continue to occur in our region. In these circumstances, the maintenance and development of open and constructive dialogue are vital. It is an effective and acceptable way out of complex crises and disagreements,«said the President.
He called for finding peaceful ways to resolve the conflict around Ukraine and initiating peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
«As for Ukraine, I believe that the time has come to collectively search for a formula of peace. Any war ends with peaceful negotiations. We must use every chance to achieve at least a truce. The Istanbul round of talks gave hope for this, but the agreement was undermined for various reasons. We cannot allow the brotherly Russian and Ukrainian people to be separated for dozens or hundreds of years with mutual unhealed resentments,» said the President.
Diplomatic settlement is also needed for the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to him.
«We are all interested in the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We hope that peacemaking efforts of the Russian side will allow to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict solely in a political and diplomatic way and lead the parties to the signing of a peace agreement,«said Tokayev.
According to Vladimir Putin, it is only possible to achieve sustainable normalization in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan through «consistently fulfilling the agreements on delimiting the border, unblocking the transport connections and resolving the humanitarian problems.»
«We hope this will eventually allow Yerevan and Baku to sign a peace treaty. We have already exchanged these considerations briefly with the Prime Minister of Armenia and will undoubtedly talk about this in more detail at our bilateral meeting today,» he said.
Continuing his remarks, Tokayev emphasized that Kazakhstan's strategic course for the comprehensive strengthening of relations of friendship, good neighborliness and mutually beneficial cooperation with allies and partners in the region remains unchanged, saying the country is determined to «continue making efforts to maintain a high level of relations with your countries both in bilateral and multilateral formats.»
The stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan was also on the agenda of the meeting. According to the United Nations estimates, two-thirds of Afghans are going hungry. The report released by the United Nations Development Programme on October 5 indicated a «cascading crisis» unfolding in Afghanistan, including a crippled economy that humanitarian aid alone cannot address.
«The search for a solution in that state [referring to Afghanistan] is one of the basic factors in ensuring security on the southern borders of the CSTO. Kazakhstan intends to continue practical interaction with the Afghan leadership to solve acute social and economic problems in the country. We provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan,» said Tokayev.
Putin said he is also «concerned about the situation in Afghanistan.»
«It certainly remains complicated. The threat of militants from different international terrorist organizations penetrating the CSTO member states’ territories remains high. The spread of extremist ideology among the people of the Central Asian countries promotes the risk of increased activity of the radical underground in the region. In effect, this concerns all our countries,» he said.
Japarov, in turn, called for increased cooperation within CSTO «at a time of fundamental changes in the global security system.»
«When a wide range of political, economic, informational, military methods and means are applied, it is necessary to consistently intensify cooperation to ensure a timely response to the changing situation,«said Japarov.
Priorities for 2023
As Belarus takes over the presidency at CSTO from Armenia, Lukashenko outlined priorities moving forward.
They include the resolution of crisis situations and the prevention of further destabilization in the CSTO area of responsibility, the effective positioning of the CSTO in the system of international relations through the development of cooperation with international organizations and other countries, improving the readiness of the CSTO forces to carry out their intended tasks and strengthening military and technical cooperation among the member states, and building the institutional capacity of the CSTO in the field of information and analysis.
«Naturally, some positions will be adjusted to reflect the changing environment both within the organization and around it. Some of what has been named are new and some, as they say, are old but good. At the same time, we should move forward in the name of the prosperity and security of our nations. There is no doubt that the implementation of the proposals outlined is possible only with the support of all CSTO member states and we are counting on it,» said Lukashenko.
What is the role of the CSTO?
In an interview for this story, the head of the International Studies Department at Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies Aidar Kurmashev reiterated the initial goal of the CSTO.
«As we know, the goal of the CSTO is to strengthen peace, international and regional security, and protect on a collective basis the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states. Today, the structure of the CSTO allows effectively achieving the tasks it has,» he said.
He also noted the use of the CSTO peacekeeping contingent in the January events in Kazakhstan. At the beginning of January, President Tokayev appealed to the CSTO to send peacekeeping troops to help guard strategic objects after mass protests, initially caused by rising fuel prices, turned violent.
Back then, peacekeeping contingents from Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan were deployed first in the country’s capital city and were later directed to protect Almaty. The mission included more than 2,000 officers and 250 units of military equipment.
This was the first time CSTO exercised its peacekeeping provision envisioned in the Collective Security Treaty as of May 15, 1992, and the Agreement on Peacekeeping Activities of Oct. 6, 2007.
«For Kazakhstan, it is essential that in such a problematic geopolitical situation as it is now when conflicts are rising across the CSTO, CSTO is used to protect against external shocks. The appointment of Kazakhstan’s representative as Secretary General is also important for us. As the President noted, it is crucial for Kazakhstan that any conflict is solved at the negotiations table and there is a constructive dialogue,» said Kurmashev.
The next session of the CSTO will be held in the fourth quarter of 2023 in Minsk.
Written by Assel Satubaldina
Photo from open sources