Monday, November 12 2018 15:07

ArmInfo.The appointment of a new CSTO secretary general was not the main issue on the agenda of the summit in Astana, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said as  he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of  Azerbaijan to Belarus Latif Gandilov on 12 November, BelTA reports. T

According to the source Lukashenko remarked that he was surprised by  the rumors in mass media about the major topics that had been  discussed at the meeting. "I am keeping an eye on what mass media are  saying, especially after the CSTO summit. And I am surprised by those  rumors.  However, it is our fault, the fault of our Ministry of  Foreign Affairs that we did not properly inform journalists and our  society about the topics discussed at the summit and so on. They said  that we had discussed the candidates for the CSTO secretary general's  position only. Yes, we discussed this matter, but it took us about 15  minutes," the president remarked. "The most discussed topic was the  foreign policy situation around the CSTO countries. Of course, while  discussing the situation around our countries, we also touched upon  the internal policy situation but only at the suggestion of a certain  president. No one was going to interfere in certain processes. For  example, Nikol Pashinyan. There will be the parliamentary elections  on 9 December, he talked about it, we listened to him," the head of  state said. "Belarus hosted several events: the Munich Security  Conference Core Group Meeting, forums of regions with Ukraine and  Russia, and I touched upon those issues. All the events happening  around us have an impact on the internal policy situation. The  presidents listened to me and took notice. They also informed us  about the events in their countries. Nothing extraordinary." 

Speaking about the appointment of a new head of the CSTO apparatus,  Alexander Lukashenko remarked: "Of course, there were many options.   But it does not mean that we pinched Armenia, that there is a winner  and a loser. It means that Nikol Pashinyan should sort out the  situation in the government because this country presides in the EAEU  (our economic union) and the CSTO. This is very big pressure for the  country in such a transitional period. Will Armenia cope with it? If  Nikol Pashinyan sorts the things out and gives us an answer, it will  be in Saint Petersburg." The president emphasized that the decision  may be made at the meeting on 6 December.