Lavrov Says CSTO Will Be Able To Send Troops Without Approval Of UN Security Council

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be able to send troops without authorization of the UN Security Council after a relevant amendment is introduced to the charter of the alliance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"The CSTO, by the way, is now expanding a peacekeeping potential on the initiative of Kazakhstan.

One of the deputy secretaries general has also been appointed responsible for peacekeeping, there are agreements on peacekeeping forces, on how they are deployed. Now, at the suggestion of Kazakhstan, we are making an addition to this agreement, because it (the treaty) says that the CSTO peacekeeping forces are deployed by agreement and with the authorization of the UN Security Council," Lavrov said in an interview with Rossiya 24 and RIA Novosti.

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The proposal to deploy a mission of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan is standing, it can be deployed if Yerevan is interested, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a Thursday interview with TV news anchor Dmitry Kiselyov.

"The fact that the CSTO prepared a plan to deploy a peacekeeping operation [on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan] in this difficult situation was, I believe, a very important achievement. That proposal is still on the table. And if our Armenian allies, friends are still interested in it, this mission can be deployed within literally one or two days," Lavrov said.