MOSCOW, 2 April (BelTA) - The CIS countries have agreed to coordinate their steps on major international platforms, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov told the media in Moscow on 2 April following the session of the CIS Foreign Ministers Council, which was chaired by Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei, BelTA has learned.
“Today we have agreed to coordinate our actions at various international venues, including the UN, the OSCE and other formats,” said Sergey Lavrov.
In his words, the main issue on the agenda of the meeting in terms of foreign policy coordination was the consideration of the implementation of the program of action to enhance partnership between the foreign ministries of the CIS member states. “This is a three-year program, which was adopted a year ago on the initiative of Turkmenistan, and everyone emphasized the importance of this work in the future. We have agreed to continue the practice of adopting joint statements for distribution in international organizations. A recent example: on 18 March, the CIS foreign ministers adopted a statement on strengthening the role of international law, which we believe to be highly relevant in a situation when some Western countries are trying to dilute international law and replace it with some rule-based order,” the Russian minister said.
Sergey Lavrov added that in 2021 the CIS states would celebrate one of the most mournful dates in history - the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. “Russia has proposed to prepare a draft address of the CIS heads of state to our peoples and the world community. We are grateful to our colleagues for their support. The document will be submitted to the nearest CIS summit and we will probably make sure that the address is signed before 22 June,” the minister said.
On 2 April, the CIS foreign ministers also approved a draft agreement on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. “We have adopted a number of decisions in the military and humanitarian sectors, including cooperation in youth exchanges, tourism, physical education and sports,” Sergey Lavrov said.
