Yesterday Moscow hosted a meeting of the Council of the CIS Foreign Ministers. "There was a lively, frank discussion of the vital issues that concern the Commonwealth. We also paid attention to the situation in the South Caucasus,’’ the Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee, Sergei Lebedev, said. ‘’Sergei Lavrov spoke about his conversations, he had just arrived from Baku. The heads of the Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministries spoke about their positions and assessments, the other heads of the foreign ministries made speeches. Everyone expressed satisfaction with the cessation of hostilities. We are deeply concerned by the aggravation of the situation in the South Caucasus, near Nagorno-Karabakh and in Nagorno-Karabakh itself. Everyone expressed the sincere desire and hope that the parties would return to a peaceful dialogue and continue the dialogue to resolve this complex issue as soon as possible. Appeals to our friends from Armenia and Azerbaijan were voiced by other speakers. The whole discussion took place in a constructive and friendly atmosphere. We hope very much that the calls of the heads of the CIS countries' delegations to our friends from Azerbaijan and Armenia will have a positive impact, and that they will implement these wishes."
There were other issues on the agenda of the meeting. "Some questions were so consistent that they did not need detailed discussion. Others, such as the transformation of the CIS bodies and the adaptation of the CIS activities to the new realities caused discussion. All the states are in favor of preserving the CIS. There are no talks about liquidating or clotting the activities of the CIS,’’ Lebedev said.
He drew attention to the high level of the representation at the meeting: "Nine Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova and the Chargé d'Affaires of Ukraine in Moscow, representing Ukraine, attended the meeting. He was also speaking equally to the other heads of the delegations."
Lebedev noted a general desire to make innovations in the activities of the integration associations: "This is typical of the activities of other international organizations, the UN, the OSCE, there are discussions about the need to modernize the UN and the OSCE. Everything that stands still and does not respond to the spirit of the times is doomed to a slowdown or even stagnation. That is why the work is intense, there are discussions at different levels and in different formats, we are working over the issues we need to do to ensure that the Commonwealth can become more effective. The financial and economic situation also encourages the optimization of activities. We are reducing the number of certain bodies, because it is difficult for the state to finance the structures in their previous form. But this does not mean that the effectiveness of our activities will be lowered."
