MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will on Monday take part in a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s (CSTO) Collective Security Council and a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council to be held in Moscow.
Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov told journalists that the key issue on the CSTO summit agenda will be the procedure to rotate the organization’s secretary general and other officials.
The leaders are also expected to adopt a statement on the fight against terrorism.
The CSTO is a regional security group comprising six countries - Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia.
The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council is the supreme supranational body of the Eurasian Economic Union [EAEU].
The new integration association - the EAEU - started operating on January 1, 2015. Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia make part of the EAEU. The Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh presidents held the final meeting in late December 2014 in the process to establish the EAEU.
The Kremlin representative also said relations with Ukraine and Turkey will be discussed at the summits.
On the sidelines of the summits, Putin is expected to meet with the leaders of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Almazbek Atambayev. Ushakov said the talks are expected to discuss issues on the regional and international agenda, including the situations in Syria and around Ukraine.
The Russian leader is expected to tell journalists about the results of the two summits in the evening.
Ukraine
Ukrainian troops have been engaged in fighting with local militias during Kiev’s punitive operation, underway since mid-April 2014, against the breakaway territories - the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics constituting parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine.
Massive shelling of residential neighborhoods, including with the use of aviation, has killed thousands and led to a humanitarian disaster in the area.
In line with the agreement reached at talks in Minsk, from September 1, 2015 there should have been a complete cessation of fire at the disengagement line in Donbass. However, the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has registered an increased number of shelling instances over the past few months.
Turkey
The Turkish Air Force’s F-16 fighter on November 24 shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M bomber, involved in Russia's antiterrorism operation in Syria, that Ankara claims violated the country’s airspace on the border with Syria.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Su-24M was above Syrian territory and "there was no violation of Turkey’s airspace." It said the Turkish Air Force fighter violated Syria’s airspace.
Relations between Russia and Turkey considerably deteriorated after the incident. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Turkey’s attack will have "serious consequences" for Russian-Turkish relations.
Syria
According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011.
Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes in Syria at facilities of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations, which are banned in Russia, on September 30, 2015, on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Russian aircraft have delivered over 4,000 missile and bombing strikes since September 30.