Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expects NATO to respond to an initiative to ease tensions in the Euro-Atlantic region and Eurasia that the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has put forward.

Axar.az reports citing TASS.

"An important statement has been adopted, which openly addresses NATO members on behalf of CSTO countries and calls for steps to ease tensions in the Euro-Atlantic region and Eurasia," he said following a meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers held in Kyrgyzstan’s capital of Bishkek on Wednesday.

"The document contains specific proposals. Let’s hope that NATO will pay attention to it and show some response," the Russian top diplomat added.

The Bishkek meeting involved the foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The parties discussed the organization’s plans to make joint political statements and take joint steps to implement the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy for 2019-2021 and measures to ease tensions along the Tajik-Afghan border. In addition, the foreign ministers agreed to hold consultations on foreign policy, defense and security issues in 2019-2020 and establish a mechanism of cooperation with the CSTO Crisis Response Center.