Russian President Vladimir Putin at Thursday’s meeting of the leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, he highlighted the effectiveness of Russian weapons and proposed a joint weapons program to the members of this military alliance of post-Soviet states. TASR writes about it according to the agencies DPA and TASS.
“We propose to launch a large-scale program to equip the collective armed forces with modern Russian weapons and technologies that have proven their effectiveness in real combat operations,” Putin declared. DPA reminds that Russia regularly tests new weapon systems in the battles in Ukraine.
At the same time, the head of the Kremlin announced that during next year’s Russian presidency, Moscow will start preparations for a joint anti-terrorist strategy of the OZKB. The alliance is also planning joint maneuvers focused on aviation and air defense.
The CSTO is a military alliance of six post-Soviet states, the key actor of which is Russia. Other members are Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia. However, Armenia is only a formal member and froze its membership in February 2024 after neighboring Azerbaijan captured the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region controlled by Armenian separatists. The Armenian government blames the Russian peacekeeping troops deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh for not intervening against the Azerbaijani invasion.
