The situation in Kazakhstan has fully demonstrated the demand for and effectiveness of CSTO forces, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday at a press conference on the results of Russian diplomacy in 2021.
"I believe that in the situation that has developed in Kazakhstan, the president of Kazakhstan has turned to his allies in full compliance with the Collective Security Treaty, in full compliance with the CSTO charter, it [the situation] has demonstrated that the efforts that the CSTO has made in recent years to create peacekeeping capabilities have been very and very effective and turned out to be very and very much in demand," Lavrov said.
"You know what they say: you want peace, prepare for war. Thank God it hasn't come to a war," Lavrov said.
He added that, in his opinion, the potential of peacekeeping forces had proved its efficiency to the whole world.
"The West's astonishment at the speed of deployment of the units that were sent from all CSTO countries to help Kazakhstan at the request of the president of this country, of course, was appreciated by all, I have no doubt about it," Lavrov summarized.
Attempts to undermine the situation in the CSTO countries
Attempts to undermine the situation in the CSTO countries are enough, one should be prepared for that, the minister said.
"I hope we will not have to use this experience (experience of involving the CSTO contingent to ensure security in one of the countries of the organization, as it happened in Kazakhstan - TASS), but we must keep our powder dry, God forbid something like this happens, although we do everything necessary to prevent it, including through the relevant CSTO structures, we must be ready because there are enough attempts from outside to undermine the situation in Central Asia, and in other CSTO countries," Lavrov said.
Lavrov noted that "these attacks became more risky and dangerous after Americans ran away from Afghanistan together with the rest of NATO members, leaving the country in the state it is in now, when it will have to rebuild it".
The minister added that actions to ensure such preparedness "also include combating sleeper cells, which should not be done through the armed forces, but through special services, intelligence." "There are such structures within the CSTO, under the aegis of the security councils they function. So, of course, all this will now be taken even more seriously, and this work will be even more in demand," Lavrov summarized.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS