CSTO summit to take place in Moscow in late 2020

MINSK, 5 March (BelTA) – A summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is expected to take place in Moscow in late 2020, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas told journalists on 5 March, BelTA has learned.

“We are deciding on the data. This year the Russian Federation is presiding over the CSTO, this is why it will host the summit of the heads of states. Most likely, in Moscow in December,” Stanislav Zas said.

On 5 March, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko met with CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas. The parties discussed various fields of the CSTO activities, including foreign policy and Belarus' initiative to designate the status of a partner and observer nations.

Another matter on the agenda of the meeting was improving effectiveness of military economic cooperation between the CSTO member states. In March, Yerevan will host an exhibition of weapons and military hardware, where representatives of the CSTO member states are expected to discuss this topic in detail. “We need to work with the CSTO member states to solve the issues in military economic cooperation. There is enough of them,” Stanislav Zas noted.

The CSTO countries will hold several joint events this year to rev up the fight against collective security challenges and threats. One of them will be the traditional anti-drug operation “Channel”. It will take place in two stages: police are planning to contain the “northern flow” of drugs from Afghanistan and take measures to prevent the spread of synthetic drugs. Headquarters will be located in Dushanbe and Saint Petersburg. Other events include operations to prevent illegal migration and cybercrimes known as “Illegal” and “Proxy”.

A number of exercises will take place within the framework of a plan of joint training of administrative bodies and collective security forces. Armenia will host the headquarters exercise “Interaction”, the special exercise involving intelligence forces “Search”, and the special exercise involving the supply and technical maintenance division of the CSTO Collective Forces “Echelon”. The exercise of the rapid response forces of the Central Asian region “Frontier” will be held in Kyrgyzstan. Belarus will play host the headquarters exercise involving the CSTO peacemaking forces “Inviolable Brotherhood”. The plan of events also includes the special exercise involving rescue divisions of the Emergencies Ministry and the special tactical training exercise involving special operations forces “Cobalt”.