CSTO summit makes no statement on war in Ukraine, says CSTO is ready for cooperation with NATO

May 17, BPN. The Collective Security Council declared its readiness for “practical cooperation” with NATO at the Moscow summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on May 16.

The summit participants noted that the CSTO peacekeeping mission in Kazakhstan in January 2022 proved the readiness of collective forces to maintain security in member states.

The statement does not mention Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Stanislaŭ Zaś, secretary general of the CSTO, told journalists that tensions persist around the CSTO region, noting that NATO was expanding its military presence in Eastern Europe, increasing supplies of modern weapons to Ukraine, and “dragging” new states into the alliance (most likely he meant Sweden and Finland seeking NATO membership).