Overview
- CSTO Permanent Council Chairman Viktor Vasilyev delivered the statements at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum and framed them as the organisation’s official threat assessment.
- The CSTO said the situation on the Ukrainian–Belarusian border is escalating and alleged that Ukrainian drones are flying over Russian territory on a daily basis.
- The organisation announced it will carefully consider Armenia’s continued membership, citing concern that US plans for a Zangezur corridor and possible EU military ties with Yerevan could stoke conflict in the South Caucasus.
- Vasilyev said the CSTO is closely monitoring an active NATO force buildup and exercises on its western borders, particularly in the Baltic states, as a security concern.
- The CSTO identified Afghanistan as its main Central Asian security challenge, warned of militants gathering on Afghanistan’s northern borders and noted particular worry about shelling into Tajikistan while promising stepped-up joint efforts to neutralise those threats.