YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said that neither Russia nor the other CSTO member countries are alarmed regarding the delay in appointing a new secretary general of the organization.

“Neither at the Kremlin, nor in any other CSTO member country is there any frustration, and there is no vacuum in the tactical management of the CSTO because the acting secretary general is working [Russia’s Valery Semerikov], who will fulfill his duties until the situation surrounding a new secretary general get’s clarified”, Peskov said.

At the same time, Peskov admitted that “there are certain disagreements between CSTO members, which are currently being settled, this process continues”.

“But this doesn’t mean that any deficit of tactical administration exists”, he said.

On November 2, 2018, Armenia recalled General Yuri Khachaturov, the Armenian military official who was serving as Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Khachaturov was recalled amid criminal charges.

Armenia afterwards announced that nevertheless it is entitled to appoint its own candidate for the position until the end of its term – 2020.

Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are members of the organization.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan