12.04.2024
The 23rd meeting of the Military Committee on military cooperation development among the CSTO member states under the supervision of the Chairman of the Military Committee, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Valery Gerasimov, took place today via videoconferencing.
12.04.2024
From April 8 to 11, 2024, the XXI International Seminar-Meeting on Combined Martial Arts with the heads of combat and physical training of the security ministries and agencies of the CSTO member states took place at the Park Hotel "Horizon", Odintsovo District, Moscow Region.
The event was addressed by Gennady Troislit, the Deputy Head of the Organizational and Planning Department of the CSTO Secretariat, and Oleg Ufimtsev, the President of the Russian Federation of Combined Martial Arts.
Session of CSC - 2009
14.06.2009
The meeting was attended by President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyev, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, Secretary General of the CSTO Nikolay Bordyuzha.
The leaders of the CSTO countries signed the Agreement on the creation of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CRRF).
Following the meeting, a statement was also signed by the heads of the CSTO member states and a number of joint work documents until 2012.
Later, the heads of state of the CSTO got acquainted with samples of the military uniform of the CORF. The presidents noted the modernity and quality of the uniforms, which fully corresponds to the purpose of the Collective Forces.
Opening Remarks at the Session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in expanded membership
June 14, 2009
Moscow Kremlin
D.MEDVEDEV: Dear colleagues!
Taking into account the fact that, by agreement between the CSTO members, due to the absence of our Belarusian partners, we have decided to transfer the temporary chairmanship of the Russian Federation as a country that is holding the corresponding summit, I will inform you about the decisions that were made and the documents that were signed by the heads of state during the discussion at the Collective Security Council of the CSTO countries.
We did a pretty serious job. I would like, of course, first of all to thank the heads of state for this work. Many proposals and criticisms were expressed in the development of documents. As a result, we came to certain decisions that were signed by the states when formulating the special opinion of Uzbekistan on a number of positions. What documents are signed.
The annual report of the CSTO Secretary General and the priorities of the CSTO activities in the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010 were signed.
A document was signed on the implementation of the decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council of February 4, 2009 on the Collective Rapid Response Forces of the CSTO and on draft regulatory acts governing the activities of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces of the CSTO.
A document was signed which includes the Agreement on Collective Forces, the decision of the Collective Security Council on the composition of the CRRF, the decision of the Collective Security Council to change the size and structure of the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the decision of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO to change the structure and additional functions of the CSTO Joint Staff .
Other decisions were also signed concerning the principles of creating and managing forces and assets. A draft decision on the plan of action of the CSTO member states on the formation of a collective system of countering migration was signed.
Approved by the chairman of the report on the implementation of measures, plans of coalition military construction, a number of other documents.
Dear Colleagues!
I would like to thank everyone for the productive work, and express the hope that the decisions we have adopted today will strengthen the security of our countries and create full-fledged collective response forces. At the same time, we understand that those states that have not yet joined the relevant decisions, they have an open position for this, they will be able to formulate this position for themselves and, when carrying out the necessary state procedures, join these decisions. We will be glad of it.
Thanks a lot to all participants, all delegations.
Press conference following the session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
June 14, 2009
Moscow Kremlin
D.MEDVEDEV: Ladies and gentlemen, representatives of the media, colleagues!
We have just held a regular session of the CSTO Collective Security Council. And at once I would like to say that very serious decisions have been taken, aimed at improving the mechanisms of collective security and substantially strengthening the capacity of the Organization.
The main event of the summit is the signing of the Agreement on Collective Rapid Reaction Forces of the CSTO, the Agreement, which governs the most important and essential aspects of the work of the relevant forces, namely, the purpose, composition and application of the newly created collective security mechanism of the Organization's member states. In its development, a number of legal documents have also been signed.This, in my opinion, of course, will allow our countries to respond much more effectively to the most significant threats of today, namely international terrorism, local and cross-border crime, including drug crime, and relevant local and, maybe, regional conflicts.
Following the meeting, a joint statement was also adopted, reflecting our common approaches to major international issues, assessed the current foreign policy situation, the international situation, taking into account, of course, the regional threats that exist in the CSTO area of operation. The desire of the CSTO member states to coordinate their foreign policy more closely is, of course, the common guarantee of strengthening the security of our countries.And today it is extremely important for us to combine allied cooperation within the CSTO with the development of cooperation and conjugation of efforts with other authoritative international organizations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, whose summit, you know, will open literally in the coming days, as well as the EurAsEC.
The CSTO colleagues expressed support for other initiatives that we have repeatedly discussed, I think that, including such an initiative as a treaty on European security, on which we have repeatedly exchanged views. This work will also be continued in the interests of all CSTO members.
We have signed a number of other documents, in particular, they determine the priorities of joint work for the period up to 2012. The main actions for reforming the collective emergency response system were approved. The purpose of this document is to prevent and eliminate the consequences of natural disasters and man-made accidents.
In addition, an Action Plan for the creation of a collective system to combat illegal migration was signed.
In conclusion of my speech, I would like to thank the President of Armenia Serzh Azatovich Sargsyan for the great and productive work on the post of the Chairman of the CSTO, which Serzh Azatovich conducted. Taking into account a number of organizational issues, I just spoke about this at the plenary meeting, the Russian Federation assumed the technical chairmanship of the Organization for the period until the final decisions on the chairmanship were taken. I think that in the near future we will decide, and everything will be done so that the mechanisms of the Organization in this sense work smoothly and efficiently.
Thank.
QUESTION: I have a question for both presidents. The question consists of two parts. How do you assess the Agreement on collective rapid reaction forces signed today in the context of the further development of the CSTO? And the second question - how do you assess the effectiveness of the activities of Armenia as the CSTO Chairman? Thank.
D.MEDVEDEV: Serzh Azatovich and I have agreed in the corridor that first I will begin to answer, and Serzh Azatovich will think what to add. But given the fact that I have already, in fact, appreciated both the CRRF Agreement, and the potential of the Organization, it remains for me to add a few such, perhaps, additional strokes.
What are they? We in December last year at the informal summit, which was in Kazakhstan, developed the idea of giving new impetus to our forces operating in the CSTO space, and reformatting the forces of rapid deployment into special response forces, rapid response. But this is not a terminological change, it is not the desire to create on the basis of the existing forces some units of similar potential. These are quite dramatic changes in our ideas about what collective forces should be.
Of course, they must be mobile, but at the same time they must be sufficient to respond to the most basic, biggest, most complex threats. I mean terrorism, crime, and other regional challenges and conflicts. Therefore, they should be compact, but not small. They should be able to solve a variety of tasks. They must be equipped with the latest military technology.They must have all the necessary attributes to work effectively. And what we have done today, having signed the Agreement on the CRRF, is just a step towards creating such forces that will be considered and which can actually repel various threats. I said last time almost from the same place that the former forces of operational deployment, rapid deployment, though they were created, but never did anything and never intended. Therefore, their effectiveness is appropriate.
In order for these forces to stand "on the wing", as they say, they must be fast, and they must be equipped with everything necessary. But most importantly, the exercises must take place, joint operations must take place. Only in this way can a valid serious group be created, which, I repeat, will be considered. Only in this way can the military skills and skills of special units be worked out in order to solve the very complex tasks that all our states and individual states face in solving certain tasks.
Therefore, I believe that this is a serious step forward. Good thing we agreed. There were discussions, a number of states are still thinking about whether they should participate in these forces or not. I don’t see anything dramatic about this, in the end, other forces of this kind were not created in one day, and not immediately all participants appeared at once. We are ready to ensure that our partners, who have not yet signed these documents, eventually, having thought and assessed this situation, come to their signing. I mean Uzbekistan, which has a number of doubts, but which did not close this road for itself, and the President of Uzbekistan said that he would think about a number of issues, and we will return to discussing this topic.And Belarus, which is simply absent at today's CSTO summit, but we hope to return to the relevant negotiations and decide to participate in the CRRF, especially since before that both countries supported the creation of appropriate collective rapid reaction forces.
S.SARGSYAN: Collective rapid reaction forces, in my opinion, this is the materialization of the ideas that are the basis of the Collective Security Treaty. I am sure that over the past year we have filled many decisions with concrete content.
A year ago, when Armenia assumed the chairmanship, I said that both Armenia and members of the countries, members of the Collective Security Treaty will not only work on the implementation of previously adopted decisions, but also find new ideas on how to enrich our Treaty. I think a lot has been done. I mark only two points. The first is the creation of collective rapid reaction forces and the second is the closer coordination of our foreign policy activities. We met for the first time before the meeting of the UN General Assembly, before the meeting of the OSCE ministers of foreign affairs, and worked out specific approaches to specific issues.
I think that only these two points indicate that during the year we have done a substantial and serious work.
QUESTION: I have a question for Dmitry Anatolyevich. You have already noted the absence of the Belarusian delegation. I would like to ask in the development of this topic. Today it has simply become clear that some problems in the Russian-Belarusian relations have affected the activities of the whole Organization, I mean the CSTO, in a sense.
I would like to know how the presidents managed to get out of this situation this time? Will such behavior of its individual members not affect the effectiveness of the CSTO? Thank.
D.MEDVEDEV: Thank you. You know, I hope that the individual position of this or that state will not affect the effectiveness of the activities of the CSTO.
First, I will begin by saying that every state has the right to an independent position with regard to membership in an organization, and there is nothing surprising in this, such cases have happened before. The most important thing, in my opinion, is that we learn to separate bilateral problems from our multilateral solutions.
But here’s what happened today, I mean the decision of the Belarusian side not to participate in today's CSTO summit, after all, this is a decision of one state, we treat it with respect. But I don’t fully understand this decision, because ultimately it would be wrong for me to make the multilateral format hostage [to make it] dependent on certain bilateral problems. The fact is that all bilateral problems should be resolved in the course of consultations, which, strictly speaking, with our Belarusian partners, and were conducted, including on the dairy subject. This is a technical issue, although I will remind you that our Belarusian partners consume quite significant resources that are provided from the Russian Federation, I mean financial resources, and on the other hand, supply approximately 93 percent of their export to Russia export, I mean in the field of meat and dairy products, and for meat practically - 100 percent.
What does this mean? Russia for Belarus is a very important market and we understand that. At the same time, when we work on such issues, it is desirable to follow the rules, it is desirable to respect the quotas that exist for deliveries. And by and large this would be a technical issue that could be resolved quickly enough if it were not for its excessive politicization, and even less the desire to link the decision of the CSTO to a bilateral issue, no matter how important it is for Belarus.
And I would like to say that in such a situation it is usually customary to act as partners. What does this mean? It would be nice to pick up the phone and call. So it was not done. Alexander Lukashenko did not call me on the phone and did not say that he was going to make a decision not to come. Although the staff of his administration called us.
It seems to me that it is desirable to resolve economic issues through direct contacts, rather than transferring the burden of responsibility for bilateral economic problems to a multilateral format that ensures life and security in a number of states. But, ultimately, this is, of course, the decision of our partners. We treat him calmly, we do not dramatize anything.
I am sure that the Belarusian side will appreciate all the advantages of returning to the discussion of membership in the relevant organization and signing the Treaty on Collective Rapid Reaction Forces, especially since our Belarusian partners had agreed to everything. Therefore, I hope that this meat and milk hysteria will not spoil, ultimately, the work of the collective rapid reaction forces for Belarus itself, because the advantages here are completely obvious. And the most important thing is to separate the wheat from the chaff, the most important thing is to make sound economic and political decisions. We hope that in the near future all these processes will be completed.
Website of the President of the Russian Federation
On the results of the meeting of the CSTO Ministerial Council
On June 14, a regular meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Collective Security Treaty Organization at the level of the heads of the foreign affairs agencies of the member states was held in Moscow.
The ministers reviewed a wide range of issues on the agenda, primarily submitted to the regular session of the CSTO Collective Security Council on June 14 this year. The main attention was paid to the creation of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CSTO CRRF), under which the heads of the foreign affairs agencies reviewed and recommended for signing by the Presidents a package of documents, including, in particular, the CSTO CRRF Agreement.
The text of the Statement of the Summit of Heads of State was agreed, which provides consolidated assessments of the main trends in the development of the international situation, emphasizes the determination of the member states to continue to develop close allied cooperation in the format of the CSTO.
Recommended for approval by the Presidents are the draft decisions of the CSC concerning improvement of collective emergency response mechanisms and countering illegal migration of third-country nationals, as well as the Priority Direction of the CSTO activities in the second half of 2009 - the first half of 2010.
In the context of discussing the prospects of CSTO cooperation with international organizations, the ministers approved a Memorandum of Cooperation between the CSTO and UN Secretariats, adopted a document designating the main areas of development of CSTO cooperation with the OSCE.
Adopted a Consultation Plan on foreign policy, security and defense for the second half of 2009 - the first half of 2010.
As a priority in coordinating the actions of the Organization’s member states in the international arena, the ministers, in particular, highlighted the Russian initiative to develop the European Security Treaty, stressed the need to coordinate interaction with international and regional organizations.
Considered a number of issues of organizational and financial nature.
June 14, 2009
Russian MFA website
President Nursultan Nazarbayev Receives Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Nikolai Bordyuzha
During the meeting, N. Bordyuzha informed the Head of State on the preparations for the forthcoming session of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO in Moscow on June 14. As expected, the main event of the planned summit should be the signing of the Agreement on Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CRRF) of the CSTO. This Agreement specifies the procedure for the formation, preparation and use of a single group of the Organization, designed to counter security threats in the CSTO area of responsibility.
N. Bordyuzha reported that all the CSTO member states had allocated special purpose brigades and assault landing brigades to the Collective Forces. They will also include special anti-terrorism units.
The head of state noted the importance of building collective capacity, based on the continuing challenges to the stable development of the CSTO member states, especially in the Central Asian region.
Website of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on June 10, 2009.
Beginning of Meeting with Nikolay Bordyuzha, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
June 8, 2009
Moscow region, Gorki
D.MEDVEDEV: Nikolai Nikolayevich, we have a June 14 session of the CSTO. How is the preparation going?
N. BORDYUZHA: We have already held several meetings of statutory bodies before the session. Have an agenda. It is quite saturated: it concerns almost all issues related to military cooperation and coordination of foreign policy activities, including withstanding challenges and threats.
Of course, the main question that will be submitted [for discussion] is the question of agreement on the CRRF [Collective Rapid Reaction Forces]. Since the extraordinary session of the Collective Security Council, a really big work has been done: it was both research and advisory.
We studied the world experience of forming a rapid reaction force, studied the rules of using force and world practice very carefully, which many structures now follow, held more than 30 different meetings at the expert level, including high-level experts - the level of deputy ministers, deputy secretaries of the Security Council - and prepared a whole package of documents, which we will offer for consideration to the presidents of the CSTO countries.
The first is the agreement on the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces. The second is the two annexes to this agreement. One of them concerns the position of command, and the second - the rules of using force.
In addition, we are ready to submit to the presidents for approval the composition of the military formations that are members of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force. I want to report to you that today all the CSTO states have submitted their proposals: there the military formations are at the level of special forces brigades, air assault brigades, that is, these are all elite units of the states. Plus, the register of special forces, these are special forces of the security and internal affairs bodies for anti-terrorism tasks. All these documents are generally agreed, in any case, have a high level of readiness.
In addition, I would like to say that we are preparing to report to the presidents on the next work, because we consider what we have done today, including the preparation of documents on Collective Forces, only as a first step. This will be followed by a large package of documents regulating both the decision-making procedure and agreements on the legal status of the Collective Forces. This will apply to jurisdiction, border crossing procedures, and many, many other issues - details of the work of the Collective Forces.
D.MEDVEDEV: I would like to say that some time has passed since the extraordinary session of the CSTO, and, in my opinion, it fully and fairly clearly shows us that the very idea of forming such collective rapid-response forces has not lost its relevance, but it is also extremely important in the conditions of our complex, controversial world and remaining regional threats of a very different order: terrorist, narcotic, and any other kind. Therefore, we will work.
Naturally, I am waiting for my colleagues for this summit, and we will prepare those documents that are necessary in order for these Collective Forces to receive their legal basis. As we agreed, I spoke of this following the results of our meeting [an extraordinary session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s Collective Security Council’s collective security council], these should be modern, mobile, active forces comparable to the same formations that exist in other organizations. We will do it.
Belarus considers the CSTO as one of the key elements of ensuring national security
The next meeting of the Council of Ministers of Defense of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will be held on June 3 in Moscow
The next meeting of the Council of Ministers of Defense of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will be held on June 3 of this year. in Moscow.
There are about twenty questions on the agenda.
The heads of the military departments will discuss the implementation of the decision of the extraordinary summit of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO on the creation of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces and consider the prepared regulatory framework for their formation and application.
The meeting also plans to consider a report by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Defense on the implementation of the CSTO Coalition Military Development Plan activities for the period up to 2010 and beyond, draft agreements on the basic principles for creating a system of hidden control of forces and means of the collective security system, on material reserves for formations of the forces and means of this system, etc.
The heads of the military departments are expected to submit draft joint action plans of the CSTO member states to help stabilize the situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and counter the challenges and threats emanating from Afghanistan and the Consultation Plan for representatives of the Organization’s member states on foreign policy, security and defense issues. half year 2009 - first half year 2010.
The meeting of the Council of Ministers of Defense of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will be held in the building of the CSTO Joint Staff.
The leaders of the CSTO countries signed the Agreement on the creation of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CRRF).
Following the meeting, a statement was also signed by the heads of the CSTO member states and a number of joint work documents until 2012.
Later, the heads of state of the CSTO got acquainted with samples of the military uniform of the CORF. The presidents noted the modernity and quality of the uniforms, which fully corresponds to the purpose of the Collective Forces.
Opening Remarks at the Session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in expanded membership
June 14, 2009
Moscow Kremlin
D.MEDVEDEV: Dear colleagues!
Taking into account the fact that, by agreement between the CSTO members, due to the absence of our Belarusian partners, we have decided to transfer the temporary chairmanship of the Russian Federation as a country that is holding the corresponding summit, I will inform you about the decisions that were made and the documents that were signed by the heads of state during the discussion at the Collective Security Council of the CSTO countries.
We did a pretty serious job. I would like, of course, first of all to thank the heads of state for this work. Many proposals and criticisms were expressed in the development of documents. As a result, we came to certain decisions that were signed by the states when formulating the special opinion of Uzbekistan on a number of positions. What documents are signed.
The annual report of the CSTO Secretary General and the priorities of the CSTO activities in the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010 were signed.
A document was signed on the implementation of the decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council of February 4, 2009 on the Collective Rapid Response Forces of the CSTO and on draft regulatory acts governing the activities of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces of the CSTO.
A document was signed which includes the Agreement on Collective Forces, the decision of the Collective Security Council on the composition of the CRRF, the decision of the Collective Security Council to change the size and structure of the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the decision of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO to change the structure and additional functions of the CSTO Joint Staff .
Other decisions were also signed concerning the principles of creating and managing forces and assets. A draft decision on the plan of action of the CSTO member states on the formation of a collective system of countering migration was signed.
Approved by the chairman of the report on the implementation of measures, plans of coalition military construction, a number of other documents.
Dear Colleagues!
I would like to thank everyone for the productive work, and express the hope that the decisions we have adopted today will strengthen the security of our countries and create full-fledged collective response forces. At the same time, we understand that those states that have not yet joined the relevant decisions, they have an open position for this, they will be able to formulate this position for themselves and, when carrying out the necessary state procedures, join these decisions. We will be glad of it.
Thanks a lot to all participants, all delegations.
Press conference following the session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
June 14, 2009
Moscow Kremlin
D.MEDVEDEV: Ladies and gentlemen, representatives of the media, colleagues!
We have just held a regular session of the CSTO Collective Security Council. And at once I would like to say that very serious decisions have been taken, aimed at improving the mechanisms of collective security and substantially strengthening the capacity of the Organization.
The main event of the summit is the signing of the Agreement on Collective Rapid Reaction Forces of the CSTO, the Agreement, which governs the most important and essential aspects of the work of the relevant forces, namely, the purpose, composition and application of the newly created collective security mechanism of the Organization's member states. In its development, a number of legal documents have also been signed.This, in my opinion, of course, will allow our countries to respond much more effectively to the most significant threats of today, namely international terrorism, local and cross-border crime, including drug crime, and relevant local and, maybe, regional conflicts.
Following the meeting, a joint statement was also adopted, reflecting our common approaches to major international issues, assessed the current foreign policy situation, the international situation, taking into account, of course, the regional threats that exist in the CSTO area of operation. The desire of the CSTO member states to coordinate their foreign policy more closely is, of course, the common guarantee of strengthening the security of our countries.And today it is extremely important for us to combine allied cooperation within the CSTO with the development of cooperation and conjugation of efforts with other authoritative international organizations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, whose summit, you know, will open literally in the coming days, as well as the EurAsEC.
The CSTO colleagues expressed support for other initiatives that we have repeatedly discussed, I think that, including such an initiative as a treaty on European security, on which we have repeatedly exchanged views. This work will also be continued in the interests of all CSTO members.
We have signed a number of other documents, in particular, they determine the priorities of joint work for the period up to 2012. The main actions for reforming the collective emergency response system were approved. The purpose of this document is to prevent and eliminate the consequences of natural disasters and man-made accidents.
In addition, an Action Plan for the creation of a collective system to combat illegal migration was signed.
In conclusion of my speech, I would like to thank the President of Armenia Serzh Azatovich Sargsyan for the great and productive work on the post of the Chairman of the CSTO, which Serzh Azatovich conducted. Taking into account a number of organizational issues, I just spoke about this at the plenary meeting, the Russian Federation assumed the technical chairmanship of the Organization for the period until the final decisions on the chairmanship were taken. I think that in the near future we will decide, and everything will be done so that the mechanisms of the Organization in this sense work smoothly and efficiently.
Thank.
QUESTION: I have a question for both presidents. The question consists of two parts. How do you assess the Agreement on collective rapid reaction forces signed today in the context of the further development of the CSTO? And the second question - how do you assess the effectiveness of the activities of Armenia as the CSTO Chairman? Thank.
D.MEDVEDEV: Serzh Azatovich and I have agreed in the corridor that first I will begin to answer, and Serzh Azatovich will think what to add. But given the fact that I have already, in fact, appreciated both the CRRF Agreement, and the potential of the Organization, it remains for me to add a few such, perhaps, additional strokes.
What are they? We in December last year at the informal summit, which was in Kazakhstan, developed the idea of giving new impetus to our forces operating in the CSTO space, and reformatting the forces of rapid deployment into special response forces, rapid response. But this is not a terminological change, it is not the desire to create on the basis of the existing forces some units of similar potential. These are quite dramatic changes in our ideas about what collective forces should be.
Of course, they must be mobile, but at the same time they must be sufficient to respond to the most basic, biggest, most complex threats. I mean terrorism, crime, and other regional challenges and conflicts. Therefore, they should be compact, but not small. They should be able to solve a variety of tasks. They must be equipped with the latest military technology.They must have all the necessary attributes to work effectively. And what we have done today, having signed the Agreement on the CRRF, is just a step towards creating such forces that will be considered and which can actually repel various threats. I said last time almost from the same place that the former forces of operational deployment, rapid deployment, though they were created, but never did anything and never intended. Therefore, their effectiveness is appropriate.
In order for these forces to stand "on the wing", as they say, they must be fast, and they must be equipped with everything necessary. But most importantly, the exercises must take place, joint operations must take place. Only in this way can a valid serious group be created, which, I repeat, will be considered. Only in this way can the military skills and skills of special units be worked out in order to solve the very complex tasks that all our states and individual states face in solving certain tasks.
Therefore, I believe that this is a serious step forward. Good thing we agreed. There were discussions, a number of states are still thinking about whether they should participate in these forces or not. I don’t see anything dramatic about this, in the end, other forces of this kind were not created in one day, and not immediately all participants appeared at once. We are ready to ensure that our partners, who have not yet signed these documents, eventually, having thought and assessed this situation, come to their signing. I mean Uzbekistan, which has a number of doubts, but which did not close this road for itself, and the President of Uzbekistan said that he would think about a number of issues, and we will return to discussing this topic.And Belarus, which is simply absent at today's CSTO summit, but we hope to return to the relevant negotiations and decide to participate in the CRRF, especially since before that both countries supported the creation of appropriate collective rapid reaction forces.
S.SARGSYAN: Collective rapid reaction forces, in my opinion, this is the materialization of the ideas that are the basis of the Collective Security Treaty. I am sure that over the past year we have filled many decisions with concrete content.
A year ago, when Armenia assumed the chairmanship, I said that both Armenia and members of the countries, members of the Collective Security Treaty will not only work on the implementation of previously adopted decisions, but also find new ideas on how to enrich our Treaty. I think a lot has been done. I mark only two points. The first is the creation of collective rapid reaction forces and the second is the closer coordination of our foreign policy activities. We met for the first time before the meeting of the UN General Assembly, before the meeting of the OSCE ministers of foreign affairs, and worked out specific approaches to specific issues.
I think that only these two points indicate that during the year we have done a substantial and serious work.
QUESTION: I have a question for Dmitry Anatolyevich. You have already noted the absence of the Belarusian delegation. I would like to ask in the development of this topic. Today it has simply become clear that some problems in the Russian-Belarusian relations have affected the activities of the whole Organization, I mean the CSTO, in a sense.
I would like to know how the presidents managed to get out of this situation this time? Will such behavior of its individual members not affect the effectiveness of the CSTO? Thank.
D.MEDVEDEV: Thank you. You know, I hope that the individual position of this or that state will not affect the effectiveness of the activities of the CSTO.
First, I will begin by saying that every state has the right to an independent position with regard to membership in an organization, and there is nothing surprising in this, such cases have happened before. The most important thing, in my opinion, is that we learn to separate bilateral problems from our multilateral solutions.
But here’s what happened today, I mean the decision of the Belarusian side not to participate in today's CSTO summit, after all, this is a decision of one state, we treat it with respect. But I don’t fully understand this decision, because ultimately it would be wrong for me to make the multilateral format hostage [to make it] dependent on certain bilateral problems. The fact is that all bilateral problems should be resolved in the course of consultations, which, strictly speaking, with our Belarusian partners, and were conducted, including on the dairy subject. This is a technical issue, although I will remind you that our Belarusian partners consume quite significant resources that are provided from the Russian Federation, I mean financial resources, and on the other hand, supply approximately 93 percent of their export to Russia export, I mean in the field of meat and dairy products, and for meat practically - 100 percent.
What does this mean? Russia for Belarus is a very important market and we understand that. At the same time, when we work on such issues, it is desirable to follow the rules, it is desirable to respect the quotas that exist for deliveries. And by and large this would be a technical issue that could be resolved quickly enough if it were not for its excessive politicization, and even less the desire to link the decision of the CSTO to a bilateral issue, no matter how important it is for Belarus.
And I would like to say that in such a situation it is usually customary to act as partners. What does this mean? It would be nice to pick up the phone and call. So it was not done. Alexander Lukashenko did not call me on the phone and did not say that he was going to make a decision not to come. Although the staff of his administration called us.
It seems to me that it is desirable to resolve economic issues through direct contacts, rather than transferring the burden of responsibility for bilateral economic problems to a multilateral format that ensures life and security in a number of states. But, ultimately, this is, of course, the decision of our partners. We treat him calmly, we do not dramatize anything.
I am sure that the Belarusian side will appreciate all the advantages of returning to the discussion of membership in the relevant organization and signing the Treaty on Collective Rapid Reaction Forces, especially since our Belarusian partners had agreed to everything. Therefore, I hope that this meat and milk hysteria will not spoil, ultimately, the work of the collective rapid reaction forces for Belarus itself, because the advantages here are completely obvious. And the most important thing is to separate the wheat from the chaff, the most important thing is to make sound economic and political decisions. We hope that in the near future all these processes will be completed.
Website of the President of the Russian Federation
On the results of the meeting of the CSTO Ministerial Council
On June 14, a regular meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Collective Security Treaty Organization at the level of the heads of the foreign affairs agencies of the member states was held in Moscow.
The ministers reviewed a wide range of issues on the agenda, primarily submitted to the regular session of the CSTO Collective Security Council on June 14 this year. The main attention was paid to the creation of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CSTO CRRF), under which the heads of the foreign affairs agencies reviewed and recommended for signing by the Presidents a package of documents, including, in particular, the CSTO CRRF Agreement.
The text of the Statement of the Summit of Heads of State was agreed, which provides consolidated assessments of the main trends in the development of the international situation, emphasizes the determination of the member states to continue to develop close allied cooperation in the format of the CSTO.
Recommended for approval by the Presidents are the draft decisions of the CSC concerning improvement of collective emergency response mechanisms and countering illegal migration of third-country nationals, as well as the Priority Direction of the CSTO activities in the second half of 2009 - the first half of 2010.
In the context of discussing the prospects of CSTO cooperation with international organizations, the ministers approved a Memorandum of Cooperation between the CSTO and UN Secretariats, adopted a document designating the main areas of development of CSTO cooperation with the OSCE.
Adopted a Consultation Plan on foreign policy, security and defense for the second half of 2009 - the first half of 2010.
As a priority in coordinating the actions of the Organization’s member states in the international arena, the ministers, in particular, highlighted the Russian initiative to develop the European Security Treaty, stressed the need to coordinate interaction with international and regional organizations.
Considered a number of issues of organizational and financial nature.
June 14, 2009
Russian MFA website
President Nursultan Nazarbayev Receives Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Nikolai Bordyuzha
During the meeting, N. Bordyuzha informed the Head of State on the preparations for the forthcoming session of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO in Moscow on June 14. As expected, the main event of the planned summit should be the signing of the Agreement on Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CRRF) of the CSTO. This Agreement specifies the procedure for the formation, preparation and use of a single group of the Organization, designed to counter security threats in the CSTO area of responsibility.
N. Bordyuzha reported that all the CSTO member states had allocated special purpose brigades and assault landing brigades to the Collective Forces. They will also include special anti-terrorism units.
The head of state noted the importance of building collective capacity, based on the continuing challenges to the stable development of the CSTO member states, especially in the Central Asian region.
Website of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on June 10, 2009.
Beginning of Meeting with Nikolay Bordyuzha, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
June 8, 2009
Moscow region, Gorki
D.MEDVEDEV: Nikolai Nikolayevich, we have a June 14 session of the CSTO. How is the preparation going?
N. BORDYUZHA: We have already held several meetings of statutory bodies before the session. Have an agenda. It is quite saturated: it concerns almost all issues related to military cooperation and coordination of foreign policy activities, including withstanding challenges and threats.
Of course, the main question that will be submitted [for discussion] is the question of agreement on the CRRF [Collective Rapid Reaction Forces]. Since the extraordinary session of the Collective Security Council, a really big work has been done: it was both research and advisory.
We studied the world experience of forming a rapid reaction force, studied the rules of using force and world practice very carefully, which many structures now follow, held more than 30 different meetings at the expert level, including high-level experts - the level of deputy ministers, deputy secretaries of the Security Council - and prepared a whole package of documents, which we will offer for consideration to the presidents of the CSTO countries.
The first is the agreement on the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces. The second is the two annexes to this agreement. One of them concerns the position of command, and the second - the rules of using force.
In addition, we are ready to submit to the presidents for approval the composition of the military formations that are members of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force. I want to report to you that today all the CSTO states have submitted their proposals: there the military formations are at the level of special forces brigades, air assault brigades, that is, these are all elite units of the states. Plus, the register of special forces, these are special forces of the security and internal affairs bodies for anti-terrorism tasks. All these documents are generally agreed, in any case, have a high level of readiness.
In addition, I would like to say that we are preparing to report to the presidents on the next work, because we consider what we have done today, including the preparation of documents on Collective Forces, only as a first step. This will be followed by a large package of documents regulating both the decision-making procedure and agreements on the legal status of the Collective Forces. This will apply to jurisdiction, border crossing procedures, and many, many other issues - details of the work of the Collective Forces.
D.MEDVEDEV: I would like to say that some time has passed since the extraordinary session of the CSTO, and, in my opinion, it fully and fairly clearly shows us that the very idea of forming such collective rapid-response forces has not lost its relevance, but it is also extremely important in the conditions of our complex, controversial world and remaining regional threats of a very different order: terrorist, narcotic, and any other kind. Therefore, we will work.
Naturally, I am waiting for my colleagues for this summit, and we will prepare those documents that are necessary in order for these Collective Forces to receive their legal basis. As we agreed, I spoke of this following the results of our meeting [an extraordinary session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s Collective Security Council’s collective security council], these should be modern, mobile, active forces comparable to the same formations that exist in other organizations. We will do it.
Belarus considers the CSTO as one of the key elements of ensuring national security
The next meeting of the Council of Ministers of Defense of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will be held on June 3 in Moscow
The next meeting of the Council of Ministers of Defense of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will be held on June 3 of this year. in Moscow.
There are about twenty questions on the agenda.
The heads of the military departments will discuss the implementation of the decision of the extraordinary summit of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO on the creation of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces and consider the prepared regulatory framework for their formation and application.
The meeting also plans to consider a report by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Defense on the implementation of the CSTO Coalition Military Development Plan activities for the period up to 2010 and beyond, draft agreements on the basic principles for creating a system of hidden control of forces and means of the collective security system, on material reserves for formations of the forces and means of this system, etc.
The heads of the military departments are expected to submit draft joint action plans of the CSTO member states to help stabilize the situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and counter the challenges and threats emanating from Afghanistan and the Consultation Plan for representatives of the Organization’s member states on foreign policy, security and defense issues. half year 2009 - first half year 2010.
The meeting of the Council of Ministers of Defense of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will be held in the building of the CSTO Joint Staff.
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