During the “Search 2017” exercises of CSTO united intelligence units launched in Armenia, in an interview with reporters CSTO Staff Head Anatoly Sidorov referred to the question, whether what country is the conventional target of the exercises.
“While deciding the target, we did not mean any state. Indeed, there is a complicated process of situation and conflict development in the modern world. There is much talk about cyber-security, and terrorism. We have taken all this into consideration within the framework of the exercises. We have developed our countermeasures”.
Sidorov answered the question whether it is envisaged to apply the CSTO united forces in case of internal conflicts of member states: “The Board makes a decision on the application of the CSTO forces. To ensure that all this is organized on time, a regular assessment of the situation is taking place. However, CSTO united forces are not applied for CSTO member states’ internal conflicts”.
Whether in what case the CSTO will assist Armenia, Sidorov noted, “We understand Armenia’s sorrow and the world know about the conflict that cannot be resolved peacefully. CSTO united forces are intended to maintain the territorial integrity of the member states. If any of the countries needs real help, the number of united forces is quite large. They will be ready to come and help by the decision of the CSTO Board. There should be no doubt about that”.
Luiza SUKIASYAN
