The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) aims to settle conflicts between members of the organization and prevent destabilization in the near future. This was stated by Secretary-General of CSTO Stanislav Zas on Monday at a press conference on the results of the organization in 2022.
"It should be noted that the Belarusian presidency of the CSTO will be held under a very good motto, "Through solidarity and cooperation to peace and security." During the course of it, very important fundamental tasks will be solved. Internally, we will strengthen the unity of the CSTO member states and resolve contradictions between them in order to strengthen the organization itself and ensure stability and security in its area of responsibility," he said. - "This is probably the first time that we have formulated such a goal as a priority - settlement of existing problems and prevention of destabilization of the situation on the territory of our states."
"We don't ignore these events, these problems, but on the contrary, we prioritize their resolution," Zas added. According to the secretary-general of the CSTO, the priority externally will be the strengthening of the role and importance of the CSTO in the system of international relations, as well as full compliance of the CSTO activities with the context of the regional and global security.
Zas also noted that the Belarusian side had identified several priorities: crisis management and prevention of further destabilization in the CSTO area of responsibility, development of cooperation with international organizations and third countries, strengthening of military and technical cooperation among member states of the organization and improving the readiness of components of the collective forces. "The fourth priority area is building the institutional capacity of the CSTO in the information and analytical sphere. These activities in the priority areas will be reflected in detail in our work plan for next year, which is currently being developed. The work will be completed by mid-February of next year," he concluded.
Training in Kyrgyzstan
Zas said that the autumn drills of the CSTO peacekeeping forces in Kyrgyzstan, which had been postponed earlier, were planned to be held later.
"This year we did not hold only one type of drill - peacekeeping drills, which were to be held this fall on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz side has requested to postpone them," he said. According to the secretary-general, this request was due to the lack of suitable conditions. "We will hold them, but a little later," assured Zas.
However, the secretary-general noted that "all the activities of joint training of command bodies and formations of forces and means of collective security of the CSTO were performed with high quality."
The CSTO exercise "Indestructible Brotherhood 2022" was supposed to take place from October 10 to 14 at the Edelweiss training range in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan. However, a few days before the event, Bishkek refused to hold it. As Edil Baisalov, deputy chairman of the republic's cabinet, later explained, the decision was made in connection with the recent armed conflict on the border of the republic with Tajikistan, which is also a member of the CSTO.
Danger of invasion from the territory of Afghanistan
There is no danger of a direct invasion from the territory of Afghanistan to CSTO countries, but traditional threats emanating from that state still persist, Zas said.
"Afghanistan, here I can express the consolidated assessment of all states of our organization, is still a source of danger for CSTO member states, first of all for Tajikistan. We do not see, for instance, the obvious threat of direct invasion from Afghanistan, but at the same time, the threats that we had before - terrorist threats, drug threats, drug trafficking, and extremism - remain. That is why we attach great importance to the security of our southern borders," he said.
The CSTO secretary-general noted that member countries of the organization carry out joint measures in this direction, including "strengthening of the forces and means, which are involved in the protection and defense of the southern borders." "According to our assessment, it is important to finalize the interstate program for strengthening certain sections of the Tajik-Afghan border. Now, there are objective difficulties that we are trying to overcome in order to complete this work and [to] make this program work," Zas stressed.
Aid to Armenia
According to Zas, the CSTO expects that the document on joint assistance measures for Armenia will be adopted after it is finalized.
"As a result of the work of this mission [CSTO mission to Armenia], a draft decision of the Collective Security Council on joint assistance measures to the Republic of Armenia was prepared, which was considered at the session of the Collective Security Council in Yerevan on November 23 this year. I hope that once we complete the work, we will be able to adopt two very important complementary documents: the decision of the Collective Security Council on providing assistance to Armenia and the statement of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the CSTO in support of efforts aimed at achieving peace in the South Caucasus," Zas said.
Zas said the CSTO Collective Security Council session held in Yerevan in late November could not be considered a failure.
"I was surprised to read following the session in Yerevan that the session was allegedly a failure, almost a disaster of some kind. Nothing of the kind. I strongly disagree with that. There was a normal working atmosphere, a list of very critical decisions was adopted by the heads of states. That is why it is inappropriate to speak of failure," he said.
According to him, the CSTO is not going to turn its back on Armenia.
"Concerning the intention of the CSTO to leave Armenia or turn away from it somehow: of course not," he said.
The CSTO secretary-general noted that during 2022, the heads of member states of the CSTO met three times to discuss the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
According to Zas, CSTO proposals to send an observation mission to Armenia remain in force, and it can be organized quite promptly. "These proposals remain in force. If the Republic of Armenia considers it necessary to make a decision either on the whole package of measures (there are six points that the heads of states proposed to approve) or on some points, including the mission, it can be realized rather quickly," he stressed.
The CSTO summit was held in Yerevan on November 23, following which Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan did not sign the draft "CSTO declaration on joint assistance to the Republic of Armenia" and the decision on CSTO actions during the escalation on September 13 on the border with Azerbaijan. Pashinyan explained this by the declaration's incompleteness and the absence of a "clear political assessment of the situation." At the same time, he called the talks held inside the CSTO Council fair, positive and transparent.
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Photo: Public Domain/Collective Security Treaty Organization
Based on materials from TASS