Russian military bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan will be involved in the protection of CSTO borders in case of direct aggression from the Afghan direction, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
"Our base in Tajikistan is quite powerful and strong, and of course, it will be involved in the protection of CSTO borders in case of direct aggression. The same applies to our base in Kyrgyzstan. Shoigu said during the meeting with the scientific community of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Thursday answering the question about the measures taken to neutralize the threats coming from Afghanistan.
At the same time, Shoigu noted that CSTO member countries cannot be on an equal footing with Russia in terms of their scale, defense potential and need help in the Afghan direction, because it is ultimately about the military security of Russia.
"We hope that the agreements that exist with the Taliban (recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia - ed.) will be implemented. But with our past experience and the experience before that, of course, it's hard to believe in this from the start. It must be dealt with so that all this does not come to our country. We should support and help our CSTO members in every way possible," said Shoigu.
Answering the question about Russia's financial expenditures in this area, the minister said: "If we talk about money, then it's not the kind of money we should think about when we do such things". He also noted that Moscow and Dushanbe are implementing a joint program of rearming the Tajik army and now there is a need to deal with the strengthening of the frontier forces of the country.
"The program is big and will last almost until 2040. But now there is a reasonable necessity to deal not only with the army but also with the border," stressed Shoigu.
He also reminded that large Russian-Tajik-Uzbek exercises will begin in which tasks related to the situation in the region will be worked out. More than 1,000 servicemen from Russia will be involved, Shoigu said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Ministry of Defense of the RF
Based on materials of RIA Novosti