Belarus will assume presidency during next CSTO informal summit to be held in Moscow this year, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told a press conference following the CSTO informal meeting in Yerevan. He also noted that the Belarus President had given his consent.

NEWS.am reminds the readers that the Russian media had repeatedly reported about strained relations between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Alexander Lukashenko. Medvedev accused his Belarus counterpart of failure to fulfill his pledge to recognize independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In response, Lukashenko accused Russian President of distorting his remarks.

On August 18, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko arrived on a private visit to Yerevan two days before the CSTO informal summit. According to the Armenian press, in the course of his visit to Yerevan, Lukashenko met with former RA President Robert Kocharyan.