Collective Security Treaty to ensure Russia’s military presence in CIS
Interfax-AVN military news agency web site
1 Oct 04
Moscow, 1 October: A protocol expanding supplies on easy terms of
defence hardware for Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO]
member nations has been submitted to the State Duma, an official in
the lower house headquarters told Interfax-Military News Agency today.
The protocol allows for supplies of defence hardware to be given not
only to units incorporated in multinational forces of the organization
but also to all services of the member nations, the official said. The
protocol also provides for sending arms to any member nation in
numerous cases, including an aggression against a member nation,
realization of the nation’s right to self-defence under the UN
Charter, and terrorist attacks or other threats to national
sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“The decision to expand supplies on easy terms of defence hardware was
made to boost efficiency of military technical cooperation between
member nations of the treaty,” the official said. The protocol’s
ratification will contribute to the strengthening of military and
political integration in the CSTO framework, maintaining optimal
military presence of Russia on the former USSR territory, and
countering attempts at forming regional security systems not involving
Russia, the document’s explanatory note reads. The CSTO includes
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.