From July 7 to 9, second staff talks were held in the Russian Federation on the organization and conduct of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CRRF) command-and-staff exercise “Interaction-2026”, the special reconnaissance exercise “Poisk-2026”, and the logistics support exercise “Echelon-2026”.
In accordance with the 2026 Action Plan of the Coordinating Council of Heads of the Competent Authorities for Countering Illicit Drug Trafficking of the CSTO Member States, and as part of the Russian Federation's priorities during its 2026 CSTO Chairmanship, the sub-regional counter-narcotics operation “Kanal – Amber Coast” was conducted from June 29 to July 3, 2026. The operation was aimed at disrupting trafficking routes for narcotic drugs, their precursors and analogues, new psychoactive substances, and potent substances into the CSTO area of responsibility, neutralizing international transnational drug trafficking groups, dismantling clandestine drug production facilities, undermining the economic foundations of the drug trade, including the laundering of drug proceeds.
The 12th Southern Information Security Forum “Infoforum Sochi 2026” is taking place in Sochi, Russia, from June 30 to July 3. On July 1, the Forum's plenary session brought together representatives of federal and regional authorities, regulatory bodies, leading companies, and international organizations to discuss current challenges in the protection of critical infrastructure, the development of artificial intelligence, and international cooperation.
On June 30 – July 1, 2026, Saint Petersburg hosted a series of events chaired by Alexander Kurenkov, Minister of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters, with the participation of heads of the competent authorities of the CSTO member states responsible for emergency prevention and response.
From June 24 to 26, 2026, CSTO Secretary General Talatbek Masadykov paid a working visit to the Republic of Tajikistan at the personal invitation of President Emomali Rahmon.
The Working Group on Afghanistan under the CSTO Ministerial Council discussed the security threats to the CSTO member states coming from the territory of the IRA
23.04.2019
On April 23, 2019, a meeting of the Working Group on Afghanistan under The Council of Foreign Ministers of the CSTO was held in Moscow with the participation of Deputy Secretary General of the CSTO Alymbay Sultanov and national coordinators for Afghanistan chaired by the National Coordinator of the Kyrgyz Republic for Afghanistan Turatbek Dzhunushaliyev.
A delegation of the Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, headed by Deputy Director of the RATS SCO Executive Committee Liu Jie, also took part in the meeting of the Working Group.
Issues related to the military-political situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, threats to the security of the CSTO member states coming from the territory of this country were discussed. The unpredictability of the development of the domestic political situation in the country, the continuation of hostilities and terrorist activities of the Taliban movement, ISIS and other extremist organizations in Afghanistan, the absence of real prerequisites for the early launch of the internal Afghan peace process, despite efforts to establish direct contacts between official Kabul and the movement Taliban. It was noted that there is a tendency to transfer instability from the south to the north of the country, the continuing threat of the export of terrorism and extremism to the CSTO zone of responsibility.
The need to continue the process of consolidating the efforts of the CSTO member states in the Afghan sector within the Organization, on a bilateral basis and in the format of specialized international platforms was stressed.
The progress in the implementation of the Working Group's Work Plan for the first half of 2019 has been analyzed, and the Work Plan for the second half of 2019 has been reviewed and approved.
A working meeting between the CSTO Deputy Secretary General A.Sultanov and the Deputy Director of the RATS SCO Executive Committee Liu Jie took place on the sidelines of the meeting. The sides discussed issues of further development of cooperation between the CSTO Secretariat and the RATS SCO in the field of countering terrorism and extremism.
The next meeting of the Working Group on Afghanistan under The Council of Foreign Ministers of the CSTO is scheduled to be held in the second half of 2019.
CSTO press secretary Vladimir Zainetdinov
+ 7495-795-27-10,
+ 7495-621-33-23-tel / fax
