Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) schedule combat readiness drills in Belarus

THE Collective Security Treaty Organisation has announced scheduled combat readiness drills in Belarus, a week after Russia said it was ‘unlikely’ to involve the CSTO in Ukraine invasion.

Imangali Tasmagambetov, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), said on Monday, February 13 that the CSTO has scheduled military combat readiness exercises to take place in Belarus.

After a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Tasmagambetov said that Belarus will host three CSTO exercises “Interaction”, “Echelon” and “Search” in 2023.

According to Tasmagambetov, the goal of the CSTO will be to strengthen existing military capabilities.

“Tactical steps are primarily aimed at ensuring the combat readiness of the collective forces of the organisation,” he said.

“In this regard, three exercises are planned in Belarus this year.”

As noted, the news, as quoted by the BelTA media agency, comes after Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian Federation Council of Federation’s International Committee, said recently that unless a country in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation offers help itself, Russia is ‘unlikely’ to turn to the CSTO for assistance in Ukraine.

Dzhabarov said on February 8: “We are not in favour of dragging our CSTO partners into the situation we are dealing with in Ukraine.

“This is our special operation if (only) someone wants to contribute.”