Andrei Kartapolov: “The higher the combat capabilities of Russian troops, the stronger the CSTO”

On Wednesday, December 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at an expanded meeting of the Collegium of the Defence Ministry at the National Defense Management Center. He pointed to the need to actively build up the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces.
“We will continue to equip our strategic forces with the latest weapons. I repeat, all our plans will definitely be fulfilled,” said the Russian leader.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu at the final meeting of the Collegium of the Defence Ministry suggested increasing the number of personnel of the Russian Armed Forces to 1.5 million, including 695,000 contract servicemen.
Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defence Committee, commented on Vladimir Putin’s speech.
“CSTO Member States must understand: the higher the combat capabilities of the Russian Federation troops, the stronger the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the more reliable the protection. There is a direct correlation. Next year, the Russian Armed Forces will hold a strategic exercise called Zapad 2023, and we must all be well prepared for it.”
As you may recall, the CSTO has developed a Plan for Joint Training of Command Bodies and Formations of Forces and Assets of the Collective Security System for 2024 and a List of Joint Training Activities Until 2030. Representatives of the relevant ministries and agencies of the Republic of Armenia, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan, as well as the Secretariat and the CSTO Joint Staff took part in the plan’s discussion.