Viktor Vasilyev: CSTO Does not Seek to Compete with NATO

Viktor Vasilyev, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated that the CSTO did not seek to compete with NATO and that Brussels had been repeatedly offered to reduce confrontation through dialog. He said this in a large interview to RIA Novosti about the activities of the Organization.

The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry also noted the active work of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly to develop relations through national parliaments.

"Naturally, we will continue to promote CSTO cooperation with interested countries and international structures, taking into account the military and political situation and the mandate of the Organization. This also fully applies to the development of relations through national parliaments. Here we observe energetic work of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly and expansion of contacts with foreign countries, including the Parliament (National Assembly) of Serbia," emphasized Viktor Vasilyev.

The Ambassador also commented on some priorities of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the CSTO, in particular, countering terrorism and extremism.

"In recent years, countering terrorism and extremism has become particularly relevant to the CSTO, which is why Russia supports the proposal of President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, to make this area of work one of the priorities. As I have already mentioned, the CSTO conducts permanent operations 'Nelegal' ('Illegal') and 'Nayemnik' ('Mercenary'), which allows the specialized structures of our states to effectively counter this threat. At the same time, we see that Western countries are actively using extremist and terrorist groups to destabilize the situation along the entire perimeter of the borders of the CSTO Member States and, in a broader context, of the CIS, as well as inside those borders," noted the Ambassador.

In addition, Viktor Vasilyev stated that all CSTO military exercises in 2024 will be held as planned. Exercises with the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces are planned in the Kyrgyz Republic, with peacekeeping forces – in the Republic of Kazakhstan and with the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the Central Asian Region – in the Republic of Tajikistan.

The Foreign Ministry representative also touched upon the role of the CSTO peacekeeping forces. He mentioned that they were formed in 2010 and annually conduct training and joint exercises, acting, among other things, on the basis of the UN regulatory framework and international law, including international humanitarian law. Regularly, CSTO Member States declare contingents that can be involved in exercises or directly in a peacekeeping mission.

"As for the possibility of the CSTO’s participation in UN peacekeeping missions under the mandate of the Security Council, such a decision was taken back in 2007. However, deploying peacekeeping forces outside the CSTO's zone of responsibility is a very delicate issue, requiring not only coordination through UN bodies, but also the dialogue with the host country or parties, taking into account political aspects, security factors, and other details. We are working on this, including through our permanent missions to the UN," Mr. Vasilyev concluded.