The events in Nagorno-Karabakh, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan have complicated the situation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"The situation in the area of responsibility of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was not without problems and was generally restless, - said the Russian leader on Wednesday at the summit of the organization via video conference. - I mean the armed conflict that broke out in September in the Nagorno-Karabakh region with the participation of a CSTO member state, as well as post-election events in Belarus, which faced unprecedented pressure from outside, and the internal political situation in Kyrgyzstan, too," he said.
Solution of humanitarian problems
Putin expressed Moscow's interest in involving the CSTO and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries in solving humanitarian problems in Nagorno-Karabakh. " Of course, we are interested in involving all our partners in the CSTO and CIS in humanitarian efforts," he said. Putin added that possibilities of cooperation in this direction with other organizations are also being discussed.
Putin reminded that it took active mediation efforts of Russia to stop the bloodshed in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, achieve a complete ceasefire and start the stabilization process. "In doing so, we followed the key agreements reached in the OSCE Minsk Group, in particular between the co-chairs - Russia, the United States and France, - said the head of the Russian state. - Currently, the trilateral statement of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan of November 9 is being consistently implemented. Russian peacekeepers have been deployed on the line of contact and along the Lachin corridor".
"Now it is important to assist the people who suffered in the battle area together, to help solve humanitarian problems related to the return of refugees, to restore destroyed infrastructure, to protect historical, religious and cultural monuments," Putin stressed. - The Russian side, in coordination with Yerevan and Baku, is already dealing with all these issues".
Decisions on Karabakh
Armenia and its people went through a difficult period in their history, but necessary decisions were made on Karabakh. "It is true that Armenia and the Armenian people have gone through a very difficult period in their history now, and the leadership of Armenia, the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister have had to make very difficult but necessary decisions for the Armenian people," Putin stated.
He called those decisions "painful but necessary" and underlined that their adoption required great personal courage from Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
"This is an obvious thing. Each of those present at today's meeting understands the degree of responsibility in making decisions of this kind. He [Pashinyan] has taken this responsibility," Putin said, adding that the task of his colleagues in the CSTO is to support the Armenian Prime Minister and his team in order to establish a peaceful life, achieve implementation of all decisions made and help people in difficult life situations.
The situation in Belarus
Putin expressed confidence that the Belarusian people will have enough political maturity to build a calm domestic political dialogue without pressure and interference from outside.
"I hope that the Belarusian people will have enough political maturity to quietly build up an internal political dialogue with all political forces and solve all their internal issues by themselves, without any pressure and without any interference from outside," he said.
The head of the Russian state expressed confidence that the Belarusian people would be able to do it. "Including the political experience of the Belarusian president," Putin added.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS