Also taking part in the CSTO summit were President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev and President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon.
The discussion focussed on key aspects of strengthening regional security and stability, and effective efforts to combat international terrorism.
Later the meeting continued with the participation of delegations from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation member countries.
The meeting participants adopted a number of organisational documents, as well as the Declaration by heads of CSTO member states on countering international terrorism.
In the Declaration, the heads of CSTO member states strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, spoke out in favour of forming a broad coalition on the basis of the provisions of the UN Charter and the norms and principles of international law, without politicisation or preconditions, and called upon all states to comply strictly with the requirements of counter-terrorism resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly.
The Declaration highlights the task of decisive preventive measures against the terrorist group ISIS as a priority.
The heads of CSTO member states noted the growth of security threats in Central Asia, associated with increased activity of ISIS, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations in Afghanistan.
An efficient fight against terrorism, the declaration reads, cannot be conducted without completely blocking its sources of financing, as required by the specialised UN Security Council resolutions and international standards of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF).
The heads of CSTO member states declared that they welcome the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2253 of December 17, 2015 on combating the financing of terrorism and its call upon all states to take the necessary measures against ISIS, Al-Qaeda and individuals, groups and organisations related to them. The heads of CSTO member states also share the resolve of the international community to step up efforts in the fight against terrorism in the Syrian Arab Republic, as confirmed by UN Security Council Resolution 2254 of December 18, 2015, while at the same time promoting a peaceful political settlement through negotiations between the Syrian government and a wide spectrum of the opposition.