President of the Russian Federation ratified the protocols on amendments to the CSTO Charter.

On August 2, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the laws ratifying the protocols to amend the Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
In particular, the new version of the Charter provides that the Collective Security Council – the supreme CSTO body – may include not only heads of state, but also heads of government, if allowed by the national legislation.
Another protocol provides that countries outside the CSTO, as well as “international organizations interested in studying the open normative legal framework, experience and practice of the CSTO,” may obtain the observer status without undertaking to participate in practical CSTO activities. States and organizations ready to participate in them will be able to obtain the status of a CSTO partner.
The Protocols were signed by the Presidents of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan in Astana on November 8, 2018. The laws on their ratification by the Russian Federation have been published on the official legal information portal.
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