ArmInfo.The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) discussed the idea of inviting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to a summit in Astana as a guest. The Russian edition "Kommersant" reports with reference to two sources who participated in the preparation of the meeting of the Collective Security Council.
According to the Kommersant interlocutors, this idea was expressed by the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and was supported by some other leaders, among whom are Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. According to sources, Mr. Aliyev was ready to visit Astana, but the Armenian side opposed this idea.
"Heads of countries that are not members of the alliance can take part in CSTO events if all members of the organization agree with this," a high-ranking Kommersant source in a delegation from one of the countries explained. In this case, he said, there was no consensus.
At the request of Kommersant to comment on the idea of inviting Mr. Aliyev to Astana, the Spokesperson for the Armenian Foreign Ministry Anna Naghdalyan replied: "We have no such information." To recall, CSTO includes six countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
To note, a summit of leaders of the CSTO participating countries took place in Astana today, including the issue of appointing a new Secretary General of the Organization, whose place is currently vacant.