CSTO Security Council Committee to Meet in Moscow on May 26

The Russian Security Council Office announced on May 6, 2026, that the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils will meet on May 26, 2026. Russia will host the meeting in Moscow. Representatives from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia will attend alongside CSTO Secretary General Talatbek Masadykov to discuss defense and political matters and examine ways to improve collective security.

Russia assumed the CSTO chairmanship in January 2026. Russian President Vladimir Putin serves as Chairman of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO. The organization held a series of sessions in January 2026 where participants discussed activities connected with the commencement of the Russian Federation’s chairmanship of the CSTO.

The upcoming Moscow meeting arrives as Armenia, a founding CSTO member, continues to distance itself from the alliance. Armenia froze its membership in the CSTO in February 2024. In 2020 and 2023, Azerbaijan launched attacks against Armenia in Karabakh, after which Armenia requested assistance from Russia and the CSTO, but neither intervened militarily.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused the CSTO of failing to fulfill its obligations to Armenia. Pashinyan stated that Armenia is not an ally of Russia on the issue of Ukraine. He also announced he would not attend Russia’s Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9, 2026.

Earlier in May 2026, Armenia hosted a summit with representatives from the European Union in Yerevan. Armenia signed a connectivity partnership with the EU during the summit. The EU and Armenia issued a joint statement noting Armenia’s commitment to sustainable democracy, the establishment of the EU Partnership Mission in Armenia, and the creation of the EU-Armenia High-Level Dialogue on Connectivity.

5 billion. During the same period in Yerevan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The two leaders discussed the importance of deepening cooperation between Armenia and Ukraine.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated it was incomprehensible that Pashinyan hosted Zelenskyy. Maria Zakharova stated that the Armenia-EU partnership would lead to Yerevan’s irreversible involvement in Brussels’ anti-Russia line and would have political and economic consequences for Armenia.

Kazakhstan, another CSTO member, has pursued closer Western ties while maintaining its role in the alliance.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin, Special Representative for Negotiations with the United States Erzhan Kazykhan, and Kazakh Ambassador to the United States Magzhan Ilyassov.

Representatives from the EU met with counterparts from Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states in Astana on April 23, 2026, to address water security, green energy transition, and resilience to climate change.

Kazakhstan does not recognize the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Kazakhstan has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Kazakhstan does not want to send troops to Ukraine. Despite these positions, Kazakhstan will attend the CSTO meeting in Moscow on May 26, 2026.

Kazakhstan is set to host joint CSTO military exercises later in 2026. The CSTO Summit is scheduled for Moscow on November 11, 2026. Forbes reported that the May 26 meeting will serve as a key preparatory session ahead of the CSTO Summit.