Belarusian defence chief shuts down doubts into CSTO's strength, relevance

Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin has pushed back against claims that the Collective Security Treaty Organization was losing its relevance.

The defence chief was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the military block's summit in Bishkek, Caliber.Az reports citing Belarusian state agency Belta.

The minister called criticism that the CSTO was supposedly losing its relevance a "complete nonsense," calling those that arrived at such observations "not very bright."

Khrenin cited the CSTO's deployment of peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan in 2022 amid the sharp rise in public unrests as evidence that "we can respond quickly to such serious challenges, which are primarily aimed at breaking a country apart from within.”

The minister further pointed the journalists' attention to the fact, that the existing threats did not appear yesterday, but had been accumulating for years. Regardless of their geographic direction, Khrenin views them to be generally similar in nature:

“Today, through cooperation between military departments there is full mutual understanding about where these threats come from, what to do with them, what measures need to be taken to neutralize or reduce these threats. That is why we gather here [at summits]," he said, revealing that the block's defence ministers held a number of meetings and events the previous day.

When asked about the CSTO partners' view on the militarization on the organization’s western borders, Khrenin pointed to a report released the previous day by Belarusian State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus. According to the paper, Belarus was observing an increasing military preparation in the West for military actions.

"Our partners, of course, express a certain concern. We have a clear understanding and coordination. Here, of course, the Union State is doing more work. This is our brotherly Russia. The regional grouping of forces. We fully accept the set of measures to neutralize and reduce these threats,” the Belarusian official underscored.

By Nazrin Sadigova