English

Lukashenka promises to sign CSTO’s agreement on rapid response force

Alyaksandr Lukashenka pledged following his Thursday meeting with the Russian president that he would sign the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)’s agreement on the establishment of a collective rapid response force and take over the rotating presidency in the Organization.

Belarus “cannot but ink” the agreement, he told reporters in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi where he arrived last week.

All CSTO member states except Belarus and Uzbekistan signed the agreement at a summit held in Moscow on June 14. The Belarusian leader boycotted the meeting in protest against Russia’s decision to ban the import of nearly all dairy products from Belarus earlier that month.

Belarus also was scheduled to take over the presidency in the CSTO at the meeting.

“As for the collective rapid response force agreement, an issue about which much is talked now, with people alleging that Belarus and Uzbekistan are nearly against this collective force, I reminded the Russian president that it was we and the Russians that had started the ball rolling,” Mr. Lukashenka said. “And our experts worked hard on documents related to the collective rapid response force. Which is why Belarus cannot but approve this agreement. I stress once again that we have contributed much to the content of this accord, its essence. Secondly, it is a framework agreement. There is absolutely nothing for us to fear.”

“The second burning issue of the CSTO is Belarus’ presidency,” Mr. Lukashenka noted. “Why should we reject this honorary mission? We did not work as the presidency for half a year and we decided to take the presidency duty in the next term as well. We shall preside over the CSTO; we only need to legally execute the process. Perhaps, it will be done through a statement of the Belarusian side.”

Mr. Lukashenka said that he had had a “very serious” discussion with Dmitry Medvedev on military and political cooperation in the post-Soviet region.

“We earlier concluded with the Russian Federation an agreement on a single air defense system of Belarus and Russia,” Mr. Lukashenka said. “We reached an explicit agreement that the Belarusian part of the single air defense system would play the main role in the west, and that it should be modernized and supported. Since our army is the main force in the west of the Union State, it should be supported, above all with weapons. And it was proposed and decided at this past February’s meeting of the Supreme State Council that we should sign a protocol to the agreement on the single air defense system. Frankly speaking, the work hit a snag. And I asked the president of the Russian Federation to accelerate it. I saw complete understanding and support on his part. Dmitry Medvedev promised to order the Russian defense minister to speed up the process.” //BelaPAN