Belarusian General Zas approved as CSTO Secretary General

The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states have agreed on the candidacy of the Belarusian Major General Stanislau Zas for the post of CSTO Secretary General. This was announced on May 22 by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov following a meeting of the CSTO Ministerial Council meeting in Bishkek.

Currently, Stanislau Zas holds the position of State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus. The charter provides for him being the CSTO head for three years. The final decision on the appointment will be made at the Summit of the CSTO Heads of State in the fall. Zas’ term in office will begin on January 1, 2020.

At the meeting in Bishkek the Belarusian delegation is headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Dapkyunas.

Stanislau Zas was born on August 18, 1964 in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine. A graduate of the Baku Higher Command School, he graduated from the Military Academy in Belarus in 1996 and from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia in 2005.

On November 4, 2015, he was appointed State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus, replacing Alyakasndr Myazhuyeu. Three years later, he was nominated for the post of Secretary General of the CSTO; however, Zas was not approved by Armenia. Experts attributed this to the fact that Yerevan was unhappy with the supply of Belarusian weapons to Azerbaijan, as well as the fact that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was seeking concessions from the Kremlin on gas prices.