Today a meeting of the Council of Ministers of Defence (CMD) of the Member States of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was held under the chairmanship of the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Kazakhstan Adilbek Dzhaksybekov.
The meeting was attended by delegations from the ministries of defence of Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha.
The defence ministers discussed joint measures for the development and improvement of military cooperation and the need to strengthen the allied solidarity of the CSTO member states.
Also they considered issues of equipping the Collective Operational Response Forces under the CSTO by modern weaponry, military and special equipment, and their further development and improvement, as well as military-technical and military-economic cooperation, improving the training of military personnel for the armed forces of the CSTO member states.
Military leaders have discussed holding "Interoperation-2012" joint exercise, which will take place in Armenia within 3-8 September, 2012.
The exercise is a comprehensive and meaningful measure of operational training and is based on a collective form of training troops and Special Forces allocated to the Collective Operational Response Forces by the Member States of the CSTO. Participants of the CMD CSTO got acquainted with the training plan, the basics of conception and the general order of the exercises, as well as the staffs of exercise’s leadership and CORF Command.
The development and improvement of regional air defence systems, as well as increasing opportunities of peacekeeping forces CSTO and their training were considered at the meeting of the CMD as well.
There was discussed and approved the draft agenda of the jubilee session of the Collective Security Council, which will be dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Collective Security Treaty and the 10th anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The session of the Collective Security Council will be held in Moscow on May 15, 2012.
Also the Plan of consultations of representatives of member states on foreign policy, security and defence for the second half of 2012 - the first half of 2013 was reviewed and approved at the meeting by the decision of the Council of Ministers of Defence.
It should be noted that the Treaty on Collective Security was signed on May 15, 1992 in Tashkent. On May 14, 2002 at the meeting in Moscow the Collective Security Council decided to transform the structures and mechanisms for cooperation among the CST into the international regional organization - "the Collective Security Treaty Organization" with affiliation of the appropriate status. The Charter of the CSTO entered into force on September 18, 2003.
Winding up participants of the meeting of the CMD CSTO member states noted that the decisions would consistently improve the system of multilateral military cooperation within the partnership and develop mutually beneficial cooperation in military sphere.
“Issues considered at this meeting of the Council of Defence Ministers of the CSTO will serve as a common goal for us - the strengthening of collective security and stability of the Member States of the Organization, which will rise its credibility in the international arena and, ultimately, the security of our people, confidence in the future”, Minister of Defence of the Republic of Kazakhstan Adilbek Dzhaksybekov said at the end of the meeting of the CMD CSTO.
The defence ministers of the CSTO member states will take part in the opening of the second Kazakhstani International Exhibition of arms and military equipment «KADEX-2012".
Oksana Parpura
Photo of Yermek Sarbasov
Press-service 
