Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold separate bilateral meetings with Presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan Alexander Lukashenko, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Sadyr Zhaparov on Monday in the fields of the anniversary summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian leader, told journalists.
"President Putin will continue a series of bilateral meetings at the end of this multilateral part [of the CSTO summit], in particular, there will be his bilateral meeting with President Tokayev of Kazakhstan, President Lukashenko of Belarus and President Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan," the Kremlin spokesman informed.
Speaking about the schedule for May 16, he noted that the whole day "is entirely devoted to the subject of the CSTO". "On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the treaty and on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the organization, a [CSTO] summit is being held in Moscow today. The heads of member states are here. Virtually a full day's work program is planned, both in the multilateral format and in the framework of bilateral meetings. In particular, now President Putin is holding a bilateral meeting with President of Tajikistan [Emomali] Rahmon," said Peskov.
According to him, after his conversation with Rahmon is over, the summit will begin in a multilateral format. "The leaders will traditionally take pictures. There will be a big open part of the summit, where they will all speak openly. You will see and hear it all," the Russian president's press secretary announced. He added that after 4:00 p.m. Moscow time, the leaders of the CSTO member states will continue their communication over a working breakfast in a closed format.
"We expect [CSTO Secretary*General Stanislav] Zas to talk to the press afterwards," Peskov concluded.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS