Baktybek Bekbolotov: CSTO must be ready to repel any aggression

“Notably, our contingent went there (to carry out the peacekeeping mission in the Republic of Kazakhstan) fully equipped with armoured vehicles, in full combat gear, with food for a month, with medicines for a month and even with coal and firewood for a month,” said Lieutenant General Baktybek Bekbolotov, Minister of Defence of the Kyrgyz Republic, in an interview with TV channel Zvezda, speaking about the CSTO winter peacekeeping mission in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
“When the CSTO Staff representatives came to our units with protocols to find out what is needed, the response was, ‘We do not need anything. We hear, it is no joke, time is short, we do not need anything.’ They were pleasantly surprised.”
“Our contingent arrived at 12 a.m.; at 3 a.m. we already took over the facility,” Baktybek Bekbolotov stressed. “We are a military organization. A clear decision of the Staff and the swift implementation of that decision were the factors that influenced the situation,” stressed the Minister of Defence of the Kyrgyz Republic.
“So far it is the first example when we showed our ability to fulfil appointed tasks in practice,” Baktybek Bekbolotov said. “Thank God, this time we fulfilled the peacekeeping mission. But as a military organization, the CSTO needs to be ready to repel any aggression.”
Colonel General Aleksandr Fomin, Russian deputy Minister of Defence, said, “We highly value our cooperation with the Kyrgyz armed forces within the Collective Security Treaty Organization. We jointly take part in all operational combat training in the Organization, including this year in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.” Aleksandr Fomin said. In 2022, the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic celebrated their 30th anniversary.