On April 14, 2021, at the “Patriot” Congress and Exhibition Center in the suburban village of Kubinka, the 18th meeting of the Military Committee on the development of military cooperation between the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states was held.

A meeting under supervision of the Chairman of the Military Committee, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Valery Gerasimov, was attended by the chiefs of the general staffs of the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, Colonel General Anatoly Sidorov and the CSTO Deputy Secretary General Takhir Khayrulloyev.

Opening the meeting of the CSTO Military Committee, Valery Gerasimov expressed gratitude to the meeting participants for the fact that they arrived in Moscow despite the continuing difficult epidemiological situation. “We hope that this will be a good sign for enhancing military cooperation within the CSTO, and the results of the meeting will serve to further deepen the interaction of our defense departments,” he said.

In the course of the event, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Tajikistan, Lieutenant General Emomali Sobirzoda, informed the members of the Military Committee about the priority areas of the CSTO activities in the military sphere, proposed by the Republic of Tajikistan during the chairmanship in the Organization in 2021.

The meeting has discussed challenges and threats to military security in the East European, Caucasian and Central Asian regions. The general staffs of the armed forces of the CSTO countries reaffirmed the range of threats to military security and the need for coordinated joint actions to neutralize them.

The CSTO Deputy Secretary General Takhir Khayrulloyev, speaking at a meeting of the Military Committee on the situation in the Central Asian region of collective security, spoke about the implementation of the List of additional measures aimed at reducing tensions in the Tajik-Afghan border area, approved by the Decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council of November 28, 2019.

“The CSTO International Conference and the external meeting of the Working Group on Afghanistan have been held. In order to demonstrate the readiness of the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces) to respond to emerging security threats, four joint military and special trainings are planned in the Republic of Tajikistan this year. A complex of operational and preventive measures under the code name "Mercenary", a regional anti-drug operation "Channel", measures to regulate migration flows and a number of other measures have been planned, - T. Khayrulloyev said.

Colonel-General Anatoly Sidorov, Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, informed about the joint training of command and control bodies and the assets of the Organization's collective security system in 2021. He noted that the main goals of joint activities were the further development of the crisis response system, the improvement of the composition of the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces), the organization of their control and comprehensive support of the created groupings.

According to the Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, within the framework of the "Combat Brotherhood-2021" operational and strategic training, it is planned to conduct four joint trainings covering the Central Asian region of collective security. On the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan: a special training with the assets of Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics of the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces) "Echelon-2021", a special training with the assets of reconnaissance "Search-2021" and a joint training with the CSTO CRRF "Interaction-2021”. On the territory of the Russian Federation: a joint training with the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces "Indestructible Brotherhood-2021".

According to Colonel General Anatoly Sidorov, in the course of these events it is planned to work out the issues of the consistent use of the components of the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces), starting with a joint operation to localize a border armed conflict and ending with post-conflict peacebuilding in the territories of the Central Asian region.

The members of the Military Committee heard information from the Deputy Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, Major General Sergei Kuprik, on the activities of the CSTO Crisis Response Center, as well as the First Deputy Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, Lieutenant General Khasan Kaloyev, on the joint unit of radiation, chemical and biological protection and medical support. In order to jointly respond to threats to epidemiological security, the meeting participants identified areas for further work related to the creation under the auspices of the CSTO of a joint unit of radiation, chemical and biological protection and medical support.

Reports were also made by the Head of the Combined Arms Academy of the Order of Zhukov of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Alexander Romanchuk on the basic educational and methodological organization for the training of personnel of the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces and the Head of the Krasnodar Higher Military School named after General of the Army S.M. Shtemenko, Major General Igor Shpyrnya about the activities of the basic educational and methodological organization for the training of military personnel for the CSTO member states in specialties in the field of information security.

Summing up the results of the event, the chairman of the CSTO Military Committee, Army General Valery Gerasimov, noted that in the course of the meeting, directions for further work to improve the military component of the CSTO were identified. They relate to the functioning of the CSTO Crisis Response Center, the creation under the auspices of the CSTO of a joint unit of radiation, chemical and biological protection and medical support, the activities of basic educational and methodological organizations for the training of the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces personnel and information security specialists.

“I believe that the set goals have been achieved, and the results of the meeting of the Military Committee will contribute to maintaining stability in the CSTO member states,” the Army General Valery Gerasimov said.