On July 19, 2024, in New York, within the framework of its presidency of the UN Security Council, the Russian Federation held a debate on the topic “Cooperation between the UN and regional and subregional organizations in maintaining international peace and security: the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)”. CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev, CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov, and SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming took part in the video format debates and made presentations.
During the debate, the CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev shared his vision of the situation in the field of international relations. He assured the audience that cooperation with specialized agencies and other organizations, programs and funds of the United Nations system remains a priority vector of international activities of the Commonwealth countries.
“In the CIS, primary attention is paid to maintaining relations with the UN on topical international issues, including in accordance with the provisions of the UN General Assembly resolution on “Cooperation between the CIS and the UN”. This principled position was once again confirmed on April 12, 2024 in a Statement by the CIS Foreign Ministers on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the granting of observer status to the CIS at the UN General Assembly.
Within the framework of this cooperation, meetings and conversations are held, including on the sidelines of international events, with UN experts. Representatives of the Executive Committee and CIS bodies take part, often in video format, in events at the invitation of the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council, the UN Counter-Terrorism Office, the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
CIS sectoral cooperation bodies interact with UN agencies and organizations. The leadership and representatives of the UN executive structures also participate in events within the framework of the CIS. Here I would name the following CIS bodies: the Anti-Terrorist Center, the Council for Cooperation in the Field of Healthcare, the Interstate Statistical Committee, the Council of Heads of Customs Services, the Interstate Council for Industrial Safety, the Council of Heads of Migration Authorities, the Council of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units.
As part of the information exchange, the CIS Executive Committee provides relevant materials to the UN structures on the measures taken by the Commonwealth bodies in the fight against international terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and drug trafficking.
The CIS countries are aimed at further deepening cooperation and coordinating efforts with UN structures and their executive bodies, and are ready to expand fruitful cooperation in order to maintain international peace and security, interethnic harmony, protect human rights, and promote economic and social progress.
The consistent and constructive position of the CIS states towards the UN is enshrined in the Statement of the CIS Heads of State on International Relations in a Multipolar World adopted in 2023, which recognizes the primary responsibility of the UN Security Council for maintaining international peace, the inadmissibility of using unilateral restrictive measures in international relations in violation of the UN Charter, including economic measures.
In their speeches, the leaders of the Commonwealth countries have repeatedly noted the growing need for the formation of a multipolar just world order that excludes the use of double standards and is based on a balance of forces and interests of all participants in international relations, assuming an increased role for developing countries.
Taking into account the transformation of the architecture of international relations, the CIS countries call for increasing mutual trust both at the regional and global levels, for the development of comprehensive, equal and mutually beneficial cooperation, and for achieving common and sustainable security, taking into account the legitimate interests of all states,” said CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev.
It should be noted that the meeting raised issues of further strengthening the UN and promoting its goals by regional organizations, increasing the potential of the CIS, the CSTO and the SCO to complement the UN’s efforts to maintain peace and international security.
Press Service of the CIS Executive Committee
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