MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. The joint drills of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) show that its collective forces are capable of repelling external aggression and ensuring the allied states’ military security, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Colonel-General Alexander Fomin said on Friday.
"The results of our drills show that the collective forces set up by the CSTO are capable of effectively countering external aggression and ensuring the member states’ military security," the Russian general said at a briefing for foreign attaches, summing up the results of the ministry’s international activity this year.
The CSTO’s basic efforts are aimed at developing the bloc’s collective forces, bringing their structure and armament into compliance with really existing challenges and threats to the military security of the organization’s member states, the general emphasized.
This year, the Unbreakable Brotherhood-2018 joint drills of the CSTO peace-keeping forces were held in Russia. They were attended by observers from such international organizations as the UN, the OSCE and the International Committee of the Red Cross, the deputy defense minister said.
The Russian defense official also highlighted the Poisk-2018 (Search-2018) drills of reconnaissance units in Kazakhstan, the Interaction-2018 military exercises of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces and the Issyk-Kul-Anti-Terror-2018 drills of security forces from the CIS states in Kyrgyzstan.
"Compared to NATO drills, the CSTO military exercises are not aimed against any states and are normally anti-terror maneuvers," the Russian deputy defense minister said.