Threats facing the CIS, measures to respond to them, and countering the West’s ideological expansion will be the focus of the 13th meeting of the secretaries of the security councils of CIS member states, TASS reports.

The meeting will take place on Wednesday in Moscow under the chairmanship of Russia’s Security Council secretary Sergey Shoigu, who will also hold separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Belarus.

TASS was informed by the Russian Security Council’s press service that the meeting is expected to discuss “the challenges and threats to security within the CIS, as well as possible joint response measures.”

As deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council Aleksey Shevtsov previously told TASS, the meeting will also address humanitarian cooperation and countering the ideological expansion of the West.

Shoigu emphasized that the meeting of the security council secretaries is “a truly unique format of communication based on trust, which allows us not only to discuss the most complex security issues openly and constructively, but also to develop joint solutions to protect our countries and peoples from external and internal threats—based on the solid foundation of our shared traditional values.”

The CIS Security Council secretaries’ meeting will be the concluding event of the “Russia and CIS Peoples” international festival, which is taking place in Moscow from October 31 to November 5.