Kazakh and Russian foreign ministers discussed biosecurity cooperation

Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and Mukhtar Tleuberdi, deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, met in Moscow to discuss cooperation between the two states in the sphere of biological security, TASS reports.
“We discussed our cooperation in the sphere of biological security. We are currently finalizing a bilateral memorandum. Moreover, in the past year relevant statements and documents have been adopted on this issue and on the issue of biological security in general and on strengthening the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention at the level of heads of CSTO States and at the level of CSTO and CIS ministers,” said Sergei Lavrov at a press conference following the negotiations with his Kazakh colleague.
In turn, Mukhtar Tleuberdi said that the Republic of Kazakhstan supported the Russian initiative to launch a coordinating council on biological security under the Committee of Secretaries of CSTO Security Councils. “Biological security is currently one of the most pressing issues on the international agenda, especially in the context of the recent coronavirus pandemic. We successfully cooperate with the Russian Federation on these issues. In particular, we are grateful to our Russian partners for their support of the initiative of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to create an international agency for biological security within the UN system,” he said.
According to Mukhtar Tleuberdi, Kazakhstan supports Russia’s initiative to launch a coordinating council on biological security under the Committee of Secretaries of CSTO Security Councils. “Here, certainly, there is still work to be done on the implementation of these initiatives. As for the Coordinating Council under the CSTO, in fact, we are already approaching the conclusion of a relevant protocol on amendments to the organization’s charter,” the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan said.