CSTO Secretary General participated in a dialogue between the UN Secretary General and heads of regional organizations discussing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on peace and security

On November 23, 2020, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas took part in a high-level interactive dialogue with heads of regional and other organizations, organized remotely by the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
According to the press service of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the heads of the OSCE, the European Union, NATO, CIS, ASEAN, SCO, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Organization of American States, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, the Commonwealth of Nations and other major associations – a total of more than 20 organizations – took part in the dialogue.
The event’s focus was on cooperation with regional organizations in maintaining peace and security, a UN priority.
The UN Secretary-General raised such issues as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on peace and security in different regions of the world, the global response to the UN Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire and the need for new initiatives to strengthen coordination in ensuring peace and security.
António Guterres highlighted the factors that have contributed to the deterioration of the international situation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He stressed that this challenge needs to be properly addressed through the joint efforts of all states.
The UN Secretary General noted that his March call for a cessation of hostilities during the pandemic was not well received and he reiterated his support for an immediate cessation of all hostilities by the end of this year.
CSTO Secretary General recalled in his turn: “The CSTO has already stated that the world community needs to focus on substantive dialogue and joint actions to ensure practical measures in the fight against COVID-19 and the consequences of the pandemic.”
Stanislav Zas said that we should start with the implementation of the initiative launched by the UN Secretary-General on March 21 regarding the immediate and global ceasefire in all parts of the world due to the threat posed by the spread of coronavirus. “The CSTO Member States were among the first to support this initiative. We clearly stated our position in a joint statement adopted at the meeting of the CSTO Foreign Ministers Council on May 26. We called on all states, organizations and conflicting parties to heed to the call of the UN Secretary-General and take appropriate steps immediately. This call has not lost its relevance even today,” said the CSTO Secretary General.
He noted the CSTO Member States’ commitment for continued vigorous promotion of a set of measures aimed at strengthening international peace and security, with the UN playing a central coordinating role.
Stanislav Zas listed the key areas of progressively developing cooperation between the CSTO and the UN. He expressed particular satisfaction that the Statement by the Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the CSTO on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Joint Declaration on Cooperation between the Secretariats of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the United Nations confirmed the common intention to further increase the scale of cooperation between the two organizations at all levels. The Statement was published on the opening day of the 75th General Assembly of the United Nations.
Summing up the dialogue, which included the statements by the heads of almost all major regional organizations, António Guterres noted a high degree of mutual understanding in assessing the need to increase the joint response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to strengthen international cooperation in ensuring peace and security.
The UN Secretary-General expressed his readiness to take into account the proposals made by the dialogue participants and to use them in carrying out his mandate given by the General Assembly to prepare recommendations to “advance our common agenda and respond to current and future challenges” and report them at the end of its 75th session.