MINSK, 13 June (BelTA) – Upon the initiative of the Belarusian side, plans have been made to test a new comprehensive format of joint training of the CSTO collective rapid response forces in autumn. This will be an operational and strategic exercise, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with the heads of defense bodies of the CSTO member states on 13 June, BelTA has learned.
This exercise will help evaluate the preparedness of staffs and armies for joint actins, the head of state said. “It is important not only to train the activities of troops in various regions of collective security in the common environment of the exercise but also to work out a plan of action to prevent modern challenges which have already acquired hybrid forms. These are today's realities, and they require adequate response from the CSTO,” the president believes.
In this context, Belarus has supported an initiative to create an interstate information interaction system, including in the Crisis Response Center and corresponding national agencies. Alexander Lukashenko is convinced that it is very important for these bodies to be fully operation not only in the period of a drastic escalation of the situation but only on an everyday basis. These and other issues will be discussed today.
