Kyrgyz President: Security situation in world remains tense

Bishkek, Nov.28, 2019. /Kabar/. The security situation in the world remains tense, Kyrgyz leader Sooronbay Jeenbekov said at the session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The CSTO extended format session is taking place at the Ala-Archa state residence.

The head of state said the termination of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the unclear prospects of the New START( Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) bring uncertainty to the existing arms control mechanisms.

“This could give rise to new international tensions. Kyrgyzstan supports Russia's efforts to ensure stability and security in the region and in the world at large," Sooronbay Jeenbekov said.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty, formally Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles) was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union (and its successor state, the Russian Federation).

US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the treaty on Dec.8, 1987.The United States Senate approved the treaty on May 27, 1988, and Reagan and Gorbachev ratified it on June 1, 1988.

Amidst continuing growth of China's missile forces, US President Donald Trump announced on Oct.20, 2018 that he was withdrawing the US from the treaty due to Russian non-compliance.

The US formally suspended the treaty on Feb.1, 2019, and Russia did so on the following day in response. The US formally withdrew from the treaty on Aug.2, 2019.

New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation with the formal name of Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. It was signed on Apr.8, 2010 in Prague, and, after ratification, entered into force on Feb.5, 2011. It is expected to last at least until 2021.

The CSTO Summit in Bishkek is attended by Presidents of Kyrgyzstan - Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Belarus - Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan - Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Russia - Vladimir Putin, Tajikistan - Emomali Rahmon, as well as Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev and CSTO Acting Secretary General Valery Semerikov.