CSTO mulling drills in other member states as Armenia backs out: Spokesman

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is working on the possibility of holding joint exercises in other member states as Armenia backs out, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

“The CSTO Joint Staff is working on proposals on the possibility of holding such an exercise in other CSTO member states and defining the plan of joint training of governance bodies and formations of forces and means of the CSTO collective security system for 2023,” Russian news agency TASS quoted Vladislav Shchegrikovich as saying.

Shchegrikovich added that further information will be shared in a press conference in February.

His comments came as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the country's Defense Ministry told the alliance it will not host CSTO drills in 2023 based on “the current situation in the country’s territory.”

The Russian Defense Ministry had announced on Jan. 1 that its forces would be among the CSTO peacekeeping contingents involved in the ‘Indestructible Brotherhood-2023’ exercise planned to be held in Armenia. It, however, did not say when the exercise would take place.

The CSTO is an intergovernmental military alliance founded in 1992, and consists of six former Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.