MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. The UN Security Council’s authorization of peacekeeping activities by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is an excessive measure, so changes are being developed to the CSTO legal framework in this regard, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a Thursday interview with TV news anchor Dmitry Kiselyov.
"Now, in accordance with Kazakhstan’s proposal, which we have supported, we are making amendments to this agreement, because the current version says that the CSTO peacekeeping forces are deployed in coordination and with the consent of the UN Security Council. This is an excessive requirement. A request from the legitimate government of one of the CSTO members is enough, as was the case with Kazakhstan in January last year. Therefore, we are now introducing the appropriate amendment to the peacekeeping regulatory and legal framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization," Lavrov said.
The agreement on CSTO peacekeeping activities currently states that the decision to conduct peacekeeping activities on the territory of CSTO member states is made on the basis of an official request from a CSTO signatory or on the basis of a decision of the UN Security Council, if it is to take place on the territory of a state that is not a CSTO member.