Nalbandian to attend CIS, CSTO Foreign Ministers meeting

The Collective Security Treaty Organization, formed under the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States, serves as a mutual defense alliance among Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The Collective Security Treaty (CST) was signed on May 15, 1992 for five-year term, with the possibility of prolongation. On December 2, 2004 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Resolution to grant the observer status to the Collective Security Treaty Organization in the General Assembly of the United Nations. The goal of the Collective Security Treaty Organization is to strengthen peace and international and regional security and stability and to ensure collective protection of independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Member States, in the attainment of which Member States shall give priority to political methods. On February 4, 2009, the CSTO leaders approved formation of Collective Rapid Reaction Force (RRF).

CIS - The Commonwealth of Independent States, an interstate association (agreement on cooperation between independent countries) of the most former Soviet republics of USSR. The organization was founded on 8 December 1991 by the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine, when the leaders of the three countries signed a Creation Agreement on the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the creation of CIS. At the same time they announced that the new alliance would be open to all republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as other nations sharing the same goals.\r\n\r\nOn 21 December 1991, the leaders of eight additional former Soviet Republics - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan agreed to join the CIS, thus bringing the number of participating countries to 11. Georgia joined two years later, in December 1993. As of that time, 12 of the 15 former Soviet Republics participated in the CIS.