ArmInfo.Russia hopes that the replacement of the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization by Yuri Khachaturov will not affect the activities of the CSTO. This was stated by RIA Novosti deputy foreign minister of Russia Alexander Pankin.
"The Russian side, like other member states, is interested in ensuring that the situation around the secretary general has the least effect on the effectiveness and coherence of the CSTO's activities," Pankin said. According to Pankin, the Armenian side initiated the early termination of Yuri Khachaturov's powers in this post, the process is launched and implemented within the framework of CSTO existing procedures.
The deputy minister added that the long-term experience of the organization gives every reason to look to the future with confidence. "Ahead of a number of important events, including the session of the CSTO Collective Security Council on November 8 this year in Astana, where the heads of state will consider a set of issues for the further development of the organization," he said.
Pankin pointed out that at present the work in the CSTO is proceeding without failures, all the adopted decisions are being systematically implemented. It should be noted that Yuri Khachaturov is in Armenia as an accused in the case of the violent dispersal of protests in Yerevan in 2008. At that time he commanded the Yerevan garrison, and now is accused of attempting a coup d'etat. In this regard, Armenia recalls Khachaturov, who worked for less than one and a half years from the positions of the CSTO's three statutes, from his post.