Russia is member of the post-Soviet Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which brings it together with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Armenia.
Together with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the CSTO is considering a joint response to American plans for missile defences in Eastern and Central Europe.
Its executive head Nikolai Bordiuzha said this to the press after emerging from a Moscow conference of deputy CSTO foreign, defence and finance ministers and national security supremos: – The Organization sees the NATO defence infrastructure and American missile defences so close to its western borders as a serious threat to its vital security interests.
Indeed, missile defences can be deployed aggressively, in a manner that calls on neighbours to mount a response. On cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in missile defence and other matters, Mr Bordiuzha had this to say: – The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a heavyweight in maintaining security in the Eurasian area. Naturally, the CSTO seeks close coordination with it, and has already achieved good results. Under decisions at the Moscow conference, the Collective Security Treaty Organization is creating a joint Central Asian security force tasked with preventing unwanted spillovers from Afghanistan.
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