Bilateral negotiations of CSTO Presidents start in Sochi

23 сентября 2013

The presidents of the six countries - Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan - will discuss the threats from Afghanistan, the situation around Syria and assistance to Tajikistan.


By Sergei Khamentovsky: The main issue of the summit is what to do with the threat from Afghanistan. With the departure of the U.S. troops after 2014, the country will become a security vacuum. Belarus believes Afghan threats are transnational and in case of CSTO inaction will grow like a rolling snowball. The first thing to be done is to fortify the border with Afghanistan. In view of the critical situation on the CSTO southern borders, the presidents will approve an unprecedented amount of aid to Tajikistan for maintaining border security. In particular, Belarus has decided to train Tajik officers in the military academy for free. During its CSTO presidency in 2014, Russia will count on strengthening the military component of the organization. Decisions on the CSTO air forces establishment and the collective forces governance are expected to be made today.