CSTO chief accuses West of expanding influence in South Caucasus

Western countries are attempting to expand their influence in the South Caucasus, according to Andrey Serdyukov, head of the Joint Staff of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Speaking at a briefing, Serdyukov described the current regional environment as being shaped by “a combination of old unresolved conflicts and new geopolitical challenges.” He added that this situation is further complicated by efforts from Western states to strengthen their presence and influence in the region.

The CSTO is a regional military alliance comprising several post-Soviet states and is focused on collective defense and security cooperation. The organization was formally established in 2002, building on the Collective Security Treaty signed in 1992 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The current CSTO member states are Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Over the years, some countries, including Uzbekistan, have joined the organization and later withdrawn.

Under its charter, the CSTO operates as a collective defense bloc. An act of aggression against one member state is regarded as aggression against all, a principle comparable to NATO’s Article 5.

The organization’s primary areas of activity include conducting joint military exercises, coordinating counterterrorism efforts, enhancing border security cooperation, standardizing arms systems among member states, and carrying out peacekeeping missions.

One of the most significant recent deployments occurred in January 2022, when CSTO peacekeeping forces were sent to Kazakhstan at the request of its government amid widespread unrest.

The CSTO is widely considered Russia’s principal multilateral security mechanism within the post-Soviet space.

By Tamilla Hasanova