Russia’s activities in the central Asia

Four years ago Russia initiated the idea of creating a full scale multinational force in Central Asia within the framework of the CIS’s Collective Security Treaty Organisation. The countries participating in this alliance would be Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. This will be a purely military structure, designed to secure these countries’ safety in the event of external attack. Different units, tanks and artillery regiments, and the Caspian Sea navy will comprise this force.

Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Nikolay Bordjuzha has stated the countries are creating this grouping to prepare themselves for a big war or a serious threat which would undermine the territorial integrity and sovereignty of these countries. Such forces already exist at bilateral level between Russia and Armenia and Russia and Belarus.

The CSTO is also going to create a collective fast reaction aviation force consisting of 20,000 soldiers on permanent duty. This will be trained to provide an immediate reaction to possible border conflicts, terrorist attacks and anti-narcotics operations. Agreement on this will be signed in Moscow in June at the CSTO summit.