On May 24, 2022, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Suren Papikian, a meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization was held via videoconferencing.
The defense ministers of the Republic of Belarus (Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin), of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Colonel General Ruslan Zhaksylykov), of the Kyrgyz Republic (Lieutenant General Baktybek Bekbolotov), of the Russian Federation (Army General Sergey Shoygu), of the Republic of Tajikistan (Colonel General Sherali Mirzo), as well as the CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas and the Head of the CSTO Joint Staff - Colonel General Anatoly Sidorov participated in the meeting.
MIR24 | Stanislav Zas: The CSTO will not bring troops into Afghanistan
31.08.2021"This fear is absolutely unfounded. The CSTO is a purely defensive political and military organization. It can use collective defensive forces only within the CSTO zone of responsibility," Zas said.
The situation in Afghanistan escalated after the USA announced its decision to end the operation in the country.. In the first decade of August, the Taliban (an organization banned in the Russian Federation) intensified its offensive against the government forces in Afghanistan. On August 15, within a few hours, the Taliban achieved full control over Kabul. President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani left the country. Muhammad Naeem, spokesman for the Taliban's political office, said that the war in Afghanistan was over, and the form of government in the state would be clarified soon. Panjsher to northeast of Kabul remains the only province not under Taliban control.
