Lukashenko calls for CSTO development

The Collective Security Treaty Organization is an important organization, and we must develop it, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with CSTO Director General Stanislav Zas on 15 October:

(soundbite)

The events here in August and the reaction to these events, first of all, in Russia show that this organization is very important, and we must develop it. In my first phone call to Putin I spoke about it: now we have, probably, realized what the CSTO is and why we need it. So, CSTO will remain in place, and we are going to be very active in this organization. And we are going to do it even if some don't find it to their liking.

After the meeting Stanislav Zas said that they had had a very thorough conversation primarily about the situation that has been evolving in the CSTO responsibility area this year.

The major points on the agenda were the situation in Belarus, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and developments in Kyrgyzstan, as well as COVID-19 pandemic.