MOSCOW, 2 February (BelTA) – The hopes that the pandemic would change the aggressive nature of international relations and ease tensions in the world have not materialized, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Stanislav Zas said at an online press briefing on the military and political situation in and around the CSTO's area of responsibility, the CSTO's activities in 2020 and the goals for 2021, BelTA has learned.
“The coronavirus pandemic has become a new global threat, it has changed our lives in many ways. It has affected almost all areas of activity: political, social, economic, military and other areas. Over the past year, we saw more clearly the vulnerability of our world and the fragility of the prosperity and stability, albeit relative ones, we are used to. Moreover, the pandemic has laid bare the need to consolidate the mankind in order to counter this new and under-explored threat. At the same time, the hopes that the new threat - the COVID-19 pandemic - would change the nature of international relations, soften the aggressiveness of foreign policy and prompt nations to join forces and interact, have not materialized,” he said.
Stanislav Zas noted that the calls, including those of the UN secretary general, to stop wars and unite did not receive proper support. “On the contrary, international disagreements are getting uglier, a part of the Western political elite is becoming increasingly pugnacious,” the CSTO secretary general stressed.
