Tashkent officially withdraws from CSTO

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 19 / Trend V. Zhavoronkova/ Uzbekistan has officially stopped its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and there will be no concessions for Tashkent's possible further joining to it, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated on Wednesday, PIA Novosti reported. "We granted Uzbekistan's request and stopped its membership in the CSTO," Lukashenko said at the organization's meeting in Moscow. He also added that the member-states agreed that there will be no concessions for the countries that will want to join the organization including Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan forwarded a note to the CSTO secretariat about the cancellation of its membership in the organization. Uzbekistan has left the Collective Security Treaty Organization once in 1999, when the country did not prolong the contract with the organization. In 2006, Tashkent restored membership. After the withdrawal of Uzbekistan, six member states remained in the CSTO: Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az