MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored the importance of having the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s biosecurity council up and running as soon as possible.
"Lavrov emphasized the need for launching a coordinating council of authorized biological safety agencies within the CSTO framework as soon as possible. "At Russia’s initiative, a list of practical measures to enhance cooperation among the CSTO, the CIS and the SCO was considered," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Friday following a meeting of the CSTO foreign ministers.
In a joint statement, the CSTO foreign ministers reaffirmed the commitment to the principle of equitable and indivisible security. "This principle is confined to the dependence of the security of each state on the security of all other countries and the inadmissibility of strengthening the security of some states at the expense of the security of others. It is important to ensure its uniform interpretation among all OSCE participating countries," the statement reads.
The parties called for strengthening the leading role of the UN Security Council in maintaining international peace.
"The CSTO member states call for building a world free from wars and conflicts, violence and pressure, and for the development of comprehensive, equitable and mutually beneficial cooperation, for the achievement of a comprehensive, sustainable and cooperation-based security, with due regard for the interests of all states and peoples," the CSTO foreign ministers said.