FMs to set agenda for South Ossetia talks

South Ossetia is to be the top issue at Thursday's meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) members’ foreign ministers. They will also consider proposals for the agenda of the following day's CSTO session for the countries' heads of s

The agenda will also include the possibility of South Ossetia and Abkhazia joining the Russia-Belarus Union State, said the head of the Belarus Security Council, which doesn’t actually mean they’ll become part of Russia's territory.

The head of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, said the question of protecting the citizens of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is high on the agenda as, despite the fact that the military actions have ended, Georgia is re-arming itself and receiving quite substantial supplies from the American side, according to reports.

Also, the foreign ministers will consider ways of deepening the multilateral military and technological cooperation of the CSTO states, as well as practical aspects to the solution of international problems.

The fight against drug trafficking, the UN counter-terrorism strategy for 2008-2012 and a joint information security system are also to be discussed at today's meeting.

The Collective Security Treaty Organisation includes Russia and six of its neighbouring countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The alliance was formed in the early 1990s to provide security in the post-Soviet area.