The summit, chaired by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, was also attended by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
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 would like to emphasize that the strategic course of Kazakhstan towards the comprehensive strengthening of 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.
The head of state informed the participants about the position of Kazakhstan 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.
"I would like to emphasize that the strategic course of Kazakhstan towards the comprehensive strengthening of 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.
The head of state informed the participants about the position of Kazakhstan 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.
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 state said.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for finding peaceful ways to resolve the conflict around Ukraine.
"As for Ukraine, I believe 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 cannot allow the fraternal Russian and Ukrainian peoples to part ways for tens or hundreds of years with mutual unhealed grievances,” the president believes.
The head of state 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.
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 forthcoming 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 3 years.
By the Kazakstanskaya Pravda
