On August 31, 2026, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, CSTO Secretary General Talatbek Masadykov met with CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev.
A meeting of the Working Group of the Coordination Council of Heads of Competent Authorities on Combating Illicit Drug Trafficking (CCHN) on organizing international anti-drug operations within the CSTO framework was held in Aktau, Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Open International Youth Sambo Festival of National Teams of the CSTO Member States was held at the International Sambo Center in Moscow.
On August 17–19, at the invitation of Colonel General Alexander Manilov, Chairman of the Coordination Service of the Council of Border Troops Commanders of the CIS, a delegation of the CSTO Joint Staff headed by Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov took part in international events held in the area of responsibility of the Border Directorate of the Russian Federal Security Service for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.
On August 14, consultations were held via videoconference at the CSTO Joint Staff with representatives of relevant ministries and agencies of the CSTO member states on organizing joint training activities for command and control bodies and formations of the CSTO collective security system in 2027.
The CSTO Acting Deputy Secretary General Samat Ordabayev took part in a special event on deradicalization at the CIS venue
28.10.2025
On October 28, 2025, at the headquarters of the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk, a special event was held on the topic “Synergy of the CIS, the CSTO, and the SCO approaches to deradicalization: challenges and opportunities.” The event was held under the chairmanship of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Commonwealth and was aimed at strengthening practical cooperation between the three leading regional organizations.
The forum brought together leading experts and heads of relevant agencies. The event was also attended by the SCO Secretary General Nurlan Yermekbayev, the CIS Deputy Secretary General Nurlan Seitimov, representatives of the CIS Anti-Terrorism Centre, the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS SCO), the UN Counter-Terrorism Office, as well as diplomats and experts from the member states.
Samat Ordabayev outlined the current security challenges in the CSTO space.
“We are seeing an increase in the number of regional conflicts and the emergence of qualitatively new challenges and threats to regional and global security. The proximity of “zones of instability” directly to the borders of our states is a cause for particular concern,” Samat Ordabayev stressed.
He also noted that the threat of international terrorism and related risks, including drug trafficking, cross-border movement of militants, and illegal financial transactions, was increasing significantly.
“In this context, cooperation and coordination of efforts between various regional organizations, primarily such as the CIS, the CSTO, and the SCO, appears to be extremely important in terms of strengthening the security space in Greater Eurasia,” the CSTO representative said.
Particular attention in the speech was paid to the prospects for institutionalizing cooperation between the three organizations. Samat Ordabayev highlighted the importance of the “Roadmap for the Development of Cooperation between the CIS, the CSTO, and the SCO”, signed by the secretaries-general of the organizations on the sidelines of the recent SCO summit. As a practical step forward, he proposed considering the creation of a coordination mechanism that would ensure constant interaction between the CIS, the CSTO, and the SCO in the field of deradicalization.
One of the outcomes of the event was a proposal to create an effective platform for sharing experiences, discussing current threats, and developing coordinated strategies to counter radicalization, especially among young people. The forum participants reached a common understanding of the need to strengthen cooperation between experts from the member countries of the three organizations in order to develop sustainable mechanisms for countering destructive ideologies.
