On July 15, 2026, the High-Level Regional Meeting “Enhancing Capacities to Prevent the Supply of Weapons to Terrorists in Central Asia” was held in Moscow, organized by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism with the participation of the Russian side.
On July 14, 2026, a working meeting was held at the CSTO Secretariat between CSTO Deputy Secretary General Valery Semerikov and UN Assistant Secretary-General Alexander Zuev.
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.
Issues of providing military and military-technical assistance are being practiced during the CSTO strategic command-and-staff training
17.03.2026
From 16 to 19 March, the Collective Security Treaty Organization is conducting a strategic command-and-staff training of the Joint Staff, the Secretariat, and relevant ministries and agencies of the CSTO member states under the leadership of Chief of the Joint Staff Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov.
The event is aimed at working out issues related to preparing proposals for CSTO bodies on providing military and military-technical assistance to the Organization’s member states.
In his opening remarks, Chief of the Joint Staff Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov noted, in particular, that “the strategic command-and-staff training is being conducted in conditions where the military-political situation is characterized by increased confrontation at global and regional levels and by the approach of ‘zones of instability’ directly to the area of responsibility of the CSTO member states.”
According to the scenario, the strategic command-and-staff training is conducted in four stages, during which it is planned to sequentially practice issues related to preparing collective decisions on the formation and deployment of all components of the CSTO collective security system’s forces and assets, as well as a set of measures for responding to crisis situations in the Eastern European and Central Asian regions of collective security.
Upon the established signal, notification and assembly of the personnel of the Joint Staff and the Organization’s Secretariat were carried out. Measures were implemented to deploy the functional groups of the CSTO Crisis Response Center and the command posts of national authorities authorized to interact with it.
This year, representatives of the CSTO Permanent Council, the Secretariat of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, the Anti-Terrorism Center of the CIS member states, and the Coordination Service of the Council of Commanders of the Border Troops are also taking part in the training.
During the first stage, issues related to preparing proposals and drafting decisions of the Organization’s bodies on the formation and operational deployment of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces and on providing military-technical assistance to a member state of the Organization are being practiced.
During the second stage, tasks are envisaged for preparing proposals and drafting collective decisions on the formation and deployment of the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the Central Asian region and on providing military-technical assistance.
During the third stage, it is planned to practice tasks related to preparing a peacekeeping operation on the territory of a hypothetical CSTO member state.
The fourth stage involves practicing issues related to the formation, deployment, and employment of the CSTO joint formation for radiation, chemical, and biological protection and medical support.
Each stage concludes with a review of the drafted decisions of the Organization’s bodies concerning the formation, deployment, and employment of the components of the CSTO troops (Collective Forces), the comprehensive support of force groupings, and the provision of military-technical assistance to member states.
Upon completion of the strategic command-and-staff training, all drafted decisions of CSTO bodies will be communicated to the member states as initial data for the development of planning documents for joint and special exercises conducted within the Organization’s framework in September–October of the current year on the territories of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Republic of Belarus.
