MOSCOW, May 23. /ITAR-TASS/. The 3rd conference on international security is to be held in Moscow on Friday. The forum is to be attended by Defense ministers or Deputy Ministers from the member-countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as a number of Middle Eastern, European, and Asian countries.

Participation of the Defense ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Iran, Pakistan, Serbia, and Deputy Ministers, among them the Chiefs of the General Staff of Syria and Iraq, has been confirmed. In all, more than 300 representatives from 40 countries are to take part in the conference. NATO and European Union countries have declined to participate.

The forum is to begin with a plenary meeting on the themes of global security and regional stability. The following persons will address those present: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, Chief of Russia's General Staff Valery Gerasimov, as well as Defense ministers of other states and the chiefs of international organizations — CSTO Director-General Nikolai Bordyuzha, Lieutenant-General Yuri Zhadobin, Belarusian Minister of Defense, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan, Iran's Defense Minister, and others.

There will be two panel discussions on the themes of “The Search for Ways to Stabilize the Situation in the Middle East and North Africa” and “Afghanistan and Regional Security”. Participants in the panel meetings are to discuss, in particular, the lessons of the “Arab spring”, the impact of the situation in Afghanistan on neighboring states, possible ways for interaction between the CSTO and NATO, and other themes.

The forum is to take place in the capital's Ukraine Hotel. However, the theme of the crisis in Ukraine, which was originally planned for discussion at the conference, has been struck off the forum's agenda.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, and Deputy Minister of Defense Anatoly Antonov are to hold a number of meetings on the sidelines of the conference. Thus, Shoigu, in particular, is to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Iran, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Serbia, and Armenia

About 200 Russian and foreign journalists will cover the conference. More than 350 experts expressed desire to take part in the conference. The Russia-24 and Zvezda (star) television channels and the official website of the Russian Defense Ministry will broadcast conference proceedings live.

On May 24, participants in the conference will visit the firing range of the Taman motorized rifle division at Alabino where international tank biathlon competitions are due to take place in August.

The first Moscow conference on international security was held in 2012 and dealt with antimissile defense in Europe. Participants in the 2nd conference in 2013 discussed matters aimed at ensuring European security.