The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Kairat Umarov, addressed the question of whether Kazakhstan is considering the possibility of withdrawing from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) during discussions in the Mazhilis (the lower house of the Kazakh parliament), Zakon.kz reports.
Kairat Umarov acknowledged that there are various opinions regarding Kazakhstan's membership in the CSTO.
"At present, no state has officially applied to this organization to terminate its membership. Therefore, we do not expect any changes in the CSTO membership. It is always better to be inside such an organization than outside it. Kazakhstan has no plans whatsoever to exit the CSTO. We were at the origins of the creation of this organization. We believe that it serves our interests," stated the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Umarov added that all decisions within the CSTO are made on the basis of consensus.
"No decision can be imposed on any state. We believe that the organization meets our interests, allowing us to discuss issues related to cooperation among CSTO member countries," emphasized the speaker.
On November 23, 2023, another session of the CSTO Council is scheduled to take place in Minsk, where Armenia will not participate. Despite this, official authorities of various ranks have stated that Armenia has no intention of leaving the organization, although they requested the removal of issues previously presented by Armenian authorities from the agenda.
November 22, 2023