Declaration of the Moscow Session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Moscow, September 5, 2008

The member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in the year of its fifth anniversary reaffirm the commonality of approaches to the fundamental issues of world development and the identity of positions on major regional problems. Member states are determined to adhere to the further close coordination of foreign policy interaction and to a line on developing military and military-technological cooperation in an ongoing manner and on streamlining the practice of joint work on all issues that affect the interests of the CSTO member states and of the Organization as a whole.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization firmly intends to ensure security in its zone of responsibility and facilitate reinforcing international stability by countering common challenges and threats, including international terrorism and extremism.

A serious conflict potential is accumulating in direct proximity to the CSTO zone of responsibility. The CSTO member states call on the NATO countries to weigh up all likely implications of the Alliance's eastward expansion and of the deployment of new missile defense facilities near the borders of member states.

The CSTO member states are deeply concerned by the attempt Georgia undertook to solve the conflict in South Ossetia by force, resulting in numerous casualties among civilians and peacekeepers and also entailing grave humanitarian consequences.

The CSTO member states are worried by the military buildup and the escalation of tension in the Caucasus region and call on all states to approach in a well-considered and an objective manner, without double standards, assessment of the situation and not take any action capable of provoking its further exacerbation.

The Organization participants as consistent champions of peace and security and the rule of international law in interstate relations welcome the settlement principles worked out by the Presidents of Russia and France and call on the parties to strictly comply with them in order to prevent new attempts at force-based solutions of the conflicts and ensure stability in this region.

Member states support the active role of Russia in peace and cooperation assistance in the region and stand for ensuring lasting security for South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The CSTO member states declare the necessity to continue cooperation in the reconstruction of an effective arms control mechanism in Europe.

The CSTO member states favor universalizing further and reinforcing the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and working constructively to lay the groundwork for the 2010 NPT Review Conference. Member states consider that the signing on September 8, 2006 of the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia is an important contribution to nonproliferation and the reinforcement of security in Eurasia and call on all nuclear powers to sign the Safeguards Protocol. Emphasizing the necessity of the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty, the CSTO member states call upon states to accede to this Treaty as soon as possible.

A serious cause for concern is the proliferation of intermediate-range and shorter-range ground-based missiles, particularly near the Organization's zone of responsibility. The CSTO member states, noting that they have no such weapons, welcome the initiative for developing a universal agreement which would provide for global elimination of these two classes of missiles and for a total ban on them.

The CSTO member states will continue actively cooperating among themselves and with other countries in the area of combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, delivery means and related materials, guiding themselves by the provisions of the resolution 1540 (2004) of the Security Council of the United Nations.

The CSTO member states favor strengthening the key role of the United Nations Organization as a universal mechanism for the maintenance of international peace and security, enhancing its efficiency and adapting it further to the realities of contemporary international relations.

Of particular importance is for the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy to be implemented, the antiterrorist resolutions of the UN Security Council put into action, and a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism agreed as soon as possible. Noting the coordinating role of the UN in this area, the CSTO member states reaffirm their readiness to participate in international efforts to combat terrorism, illicit drug and arms trade, illegal migration and transnational organized crime.

The CSTO member states advocate increasing the effectiveness of OSCE activities and positively assess interaction between CSTO and OSCE on such problems as the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal migration and the reinforcement of cross border security.

International, regional and local conflicts and crises should be resolved by politico-diplomatic methods in accordance with the norms of international law and with regard for the interests of all the parties involved.

The CSTO member states call for tackling the so called frozen conflicts exclusively by peaceful means, through purposeful work in the framework of the already existing negotiation mechanisms.

The situation in Afghanistan particularly worries the CSTO member states - especially the narco-terrorist threat emanating from Afghan territory.

The CSTO member states consider it necessary to intensify joint efforts by all members of the international community to establish and strengthen the "antinarcotics and financial security belts" in the region around Afghanistan.

Forging cooperation between CSTO and NATO in questions of combating the narco-terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan and generally stabilizing that country in accordance with the declared aims of the international community could be an important step.

The CSTO member states favor the early resolution of the situation surrounding the Islamic Republic of Iran through continued negotiations on issues relating to the Iranian nuclear program, with the IAEA playing an active role, and with regard for the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. While recognizing the right of Iran to the development of peaceful nuclear energy in accordance with the NPT, member states call upon the sides to show constructiveness in these negotiations.

An important task is to normalize the situation in Iraq by achieving national reconciliation with support from all of Iraq's neighbors and the world community as a whole.

The CSTO member states welcome the progress achieved in the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program and advocate further steps toward gradual conversion of the Korean Peninsula into a nuclear-weapon-free zone.

The participants of the session of the Collective Security Council support the initiative of the Russian Federation for developing a European Security Treaty.

The CSTO member states believe that the implementation of the tasks in strengthening peace and security is possible only on the basis of the broadest international cooperation and declare their readiness to develop contacts with other international and regional organizations.