MINSK (BelTA) — The next session of the CIS Foreign Ministers Council is scheduled to take place in Minsk on 6 April, Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee, CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev told the media. Its agenda is expected to include 12 points.

The CIS Plenipotentiaries Council will draft the agenda of the upcoming session on 30 January. “The CIS Executive Committee has started preparing for the meeting in cooperation with the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We hope that it will be held in a smooth and well-organized way. We are now working on the questions. The agenda of the meeting will be discussed today”, Sergei Lebedev said.

The agenda is supposed to comprise 12 items. The CIS foreign ministers will exchange opinions on the current situation in the world and international events. “This is a very good form of joint discussion of topical global issues within the CIS framework. Ministerial consultations are an instrument of political cooperation promoting this process. This is why the results of ministerial consultations in the CIS in 2017 and the 2018 plans will be the first thing to be discussed”, the CIS executive secretary added.

The CIS Plenipotentiaries also plan to put on the agenda around five matters related to cooperation in law enforcement, security, and humanitarian field. They are also set to consider a proposal on the meeting of the CIS teachers and interaction in youth affairs.

According to Sergei Lebedev, the informal meetings of the CIS heads of state in Moscow on 26 December 2017 gave a good impetus to cooperation in the commonwealth. “There was a good and honest conversation. The CIS Executive Committee and other CIS bodies were happy to learn that the presidents commended the commonwealth and praised the prospects for development. This gives a cause for optimism because everyone talked about the need to preserve the CIS, improve it and boost its effectiveness. The tasks have been set. With this in mind, we are opening the session of the CIS Plenipotentiaries Council”, Sergei Lebedev added.

On 30 January, Minsk is playing host to the first session of the CIS Plenipotentiaries Council in 2018.