ASTANA, November 9. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to visit Minsk to attend the summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on November 23.

"I am in continuous contact with the president [of Kazakhstan], and we have a very good relationship, both on the personal level and in discussing business. Naturally, it helps in [our] work. And I am confident that it will continue to be so in the future," Putin said during his talks with his Kazakh counterpart, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. "We will soon meet at a session of the [CSTO] Collective Security Council in Minsk, and we will have another opportunity to communicate at the EAEC (Eurasian Economic Community - TASS) summit in St. Petersburg and see each other at the traditional informal CIS leaders’ meeting ahead of the New Year," Putin said, disclosing his immediate plans.

The Russian leader last visited Belarus in December 2022. Apart from Belarus, which holds the rotating CSTO presidency in 2023, the organization includes Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.