Belarus and Uzbekistan do not sign agreement on creating a joint rapid-reaction force

PanARMENIAN.Net - Belarus and Uzbekistan have not signed the agreement on creating a joint rapid-reaction force of Collective Security Treaty. Only five out of seven CSTO member states approved the document at the Moscow summit: Russia, Armenia, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.



Belarusian delegation has pulled out of Sunday's summit in protest against trade restrictions, in a so called "Milky war", and Uzbekistan expressed some concerns related to formation of military CSTO forces.



The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a note handed to the CSTO's secretariat that the country's non-participation "means the lack of approval from the Republic of Belarus of decisions being considered" at the summit, along with the foreign and defense ministers' meetings, and "consequently a lack of consensus for the taking of these decisions."



Earlier, Russia banned imports of over 1,000 types of milk products from Belarus, a major item of its budget revenues, saying producers in the ex-Soviet republic had failed to comply with new Russian standards. Official Minsk blames Russia in undermining its economic security, and qualifies Russian's actions as direct economic discrimination. Belarus leadership immediately links their country's economic security with CSTO's collective security.



The CSTO rotating presidency, which was expected to be assumed by Belarus, has been passed over to Russia for the time being. It was projected earlier, that Armenia would pass presidency to Belarus, Lenta.ru reports.



The Russian president said that Minsk could join the CSTO summit's decisions later, adding that such a move would be welcomed.