A little more than a week has passed since the next CSTO summit in Minsk ended its work, and the exchange of views on its content and results continues in the expert environment.
In fact, the meeting of the CSTO Council, which took place on November 23, actually ended the presidency of Belarus in the Organization. The formal transfer of the chairman's function to the Kazakh side will take place on December 31 of the outgoing year. Accordingly, the last event was of a reporting and final nature.
Speaking to the participants of the meeting, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko recalled that during 2023 the CSTO countries held a set of exercises to strengthen the military component of the organization. In October, Minsk became the venue for a major international conference on Eurasian security.
In turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a meeting of the Council in a narrow format, noted that over the past period, the CSTO's contacts with China and the CIS countries have developed. The Russian leader highly appreciated the joint efforts to improve the Collective Rapid Deployment and Rapid Response Forces, aviation and peacekeeping forces of the CSTO. A number of measures have been carried out to maintain the combat readiness of control systems and improve the training of military personnel. Vladimir Putin also spoke about the CSTO operation Mercenary, aimed at suppressing recruitment and blocking the channels of departure of citizens of the Organization's countries to participate in the activities of international terrorist groups. The expansion of the sphere of cooperation between the CSTO countries was also noted. For example, the coordinating council of the Organization for Biological Safety has been established. The focus of his attention is on the issues of preventing threats related to the development and use of biological weapons, providing radiation, chemical and medical protection. In addition, Putin touched upon the topic of expanding military-technical cooperation between the CSTO member states. The interstate military-economic commission of the Organization, created on the initiative of Russia, is actively involved in this.
In general, one could say that the year ending has been productive for the CSTO. However, not all experts share this point of view. They point out that the year was not very successful in resolving crisis situations and preventing further destabilization in the CSTO area of responsibility. For example, if the border conflict between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan was extinguished, then the confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan provoked quite sharp demarches by Yerevan against the CSTO.
Some analysts generally believe that the CSTO is not currently an organization that is really capable of resolving any conflicts. "The CSTO continues to make some decisions on joint exercises or on the exchange of information in the military sphere, establishing synchronization of cooperation in the defense industry or on the internal development of troops, but there will be no fundamental change in what is happening now," Elena Kudko, vice president of the GLOBSEC research center, expresses her opinion.
For my part, I would like to remind Madam Vice President about the brilliantly conducted CSTO operation in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Almost a year ago, on January 5, 2022, President of the Republic Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appealed to the CSTO for help, due to the threat to national security and sovereignty of the country caused, among other things, by outside interference. The Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the Organization that arrived in Kazakhstan promptly stabilized and normalized the situation, restored constitutional order.
In addition, it should be noted that the meeting in Minsk was also analyzed by many authors of Russian-language analytical Telegram channels, who spoke positively about the event and its results. For example, the Telegram channel "Meister" writes that among the interesting points that I would like to note is the issue of unity of the Organization. "Despite the fact that the West is consistently trying to drive a wedge between Russia and its neighbors, it is not possible to cause a split in the CSTO," Meister points out. "Even Armenia, where Pashinyan's pro-Western sympathies influence the vector of its cooperation with the CSTO, despite the gossip in the media, does not intend to leave the Organization."
Indeed, the theme of the unity of the Organization was the leitmotif through the entire event.
In his speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out that the team of all participating states had been actively working throughout the year to strengthen allied ties based on the principles of mutual respect and consideration of each other's interests.
It should be recalled that the Belarusian chairmanship of the CSTO was held under the motto "Through solidarity and cooperation – to peace and security." "On the internal circuit, we sought to increase the state cohesion of the CSTO in order to strengthen the Organization itself, as well as ensure security and stability in the area of responsibility," Alexander Lukashenko explained during the meeting.
The President of Belarus also spoke on the issue of Armenia's membership in the CSTO. "Let's not hide it – we discussed the situation in the Caucasus and some of the dissatisfactions of one of the members of the Collective Security Council. We came to the common conclusion that problematic issues have always been, will be, and if we intend to solve them, then they must be solved at the negotiating table. And not to make demarches for no reason. We expressed a certain opinion and wishes that, most likely, in St. Petersburg, after all, an economic event, we will see our Armenian friends," Alexander Lukashenko is sure.
In other words, the CSTO considers the situation with Armenia as a working moment – a difficult, but in principle solvable issue. Similar situations can be found in any associations and military blocs. For example, the confrontation between Poland and the EU over the rule of law, or the relationship between Turkey and NATO, of which it has been a member since 1952, but has recently intensified its military ties with Russia and China. There are many examples, the main thing in this matter is the choice of the side and the unity of views.
This topic was well covered by the Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus (LDPB) Oleg Gaidukevich, speaking in the project "In the subject" on the BELTA YouTube channel. "We have to be strong. We have the same path. They will always talk to the strong. Look at how Russia behaved and we did. Russia has long wanted to have a dialogue with it. But for some reason the West decided that Russia did not deserve this conversation, that it could be broken. Break it by force. <...> Russia has shown strength. Now all Western analysts say that Russia will not be defeated militarily. Something has to be done. What do they say about Belarus? 2020 – "we will strangle it with sanctions, we will be able to blow it up from the inside with terrorist attacks." Three years have passed. The sanctions did not work. There is a tough and uncompromising fight against terrorism and extremism, and the law enforcement agencies are coping and will continue to cope. What's going on now? An attempt to have a dialogue with us. But we will conduct the dialogue in a different way, only on equal terms, only taking into account national interests," said the chairman of the LDPB.
Oleg Gaidukevich's words can be confirmed by the first results of the World Summit on Combating Climate Change, which began work in Dubai. Constructive policy in the language of traditional diplomacy, mutual respect, recognition of the diversity of political opinions and equal rights of all members of the world community – this is the basis for which Russia and Belarus stand, building their relationships with subjects of world politics, and thereby attract allies and like-minded people.
It is obvious that unity in views on the future of the CSTO was also present among the participants of the meeting of the CSTO Council. Judging by the number of signed documents and their orientation, all the leaders of the CSTO countries recognize the main idea – it is necessary to strengthen the Organization. In addition, as the President of the Republic of Belarus said, "new ways and mechanisms will have to be found to increase the authority of the CSTO."
In the context of the escalating confrontation between the collective West, which is trying to preserve the unipolar model of the world led by the United States, and the rest of humanity, which advocates a multipolar world order, Western civilization uses the NATO bloc as the main instrument of power struggle. Therefore, it is not surprising that for the progressive part of the world community, the problem of finding a counterweight to the North Atlantic bloc is becoming relevant.
This is exactly what CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov said, speaking to reporters after the summit, without focusing on details. He noted that "now the CSTO has entered a new stage of its development, and due to the complicated global situation, the Organization's demand is growing." "Responding to new challenges and threats, the Organization is improving and modernizing," the Secretary General said. According to him, the CSTO is not only a military-political organization, but also a part of global security. "We believe that the CSTO peacekeeping potential will be in great demand in the future," Tasmagambetov said.
Vladimir Vuyachich