MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is ready for cooperation with Uzbekistan but its return to the organization will depend on that country’s people and leadership, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas said in an online briefing on Monday. 

"We are ready for cooperation with Uzbekistan and such cooperation is being carried out. Uzbek servicemen take part in some of our events, such as drills. It is useful from the point of view of experience exchange. But Uzbekistan’s return to our organization will depend, first of all, on the will of the Uzbek people and its leadership," he said.

The CSTO secretary general welcomed Uzbekistan’s participation in Monday’s extraordinary session of the Collective Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan.

The session was held online and was chaired by Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon. The leaders discussed issues of ensuring the security of CSTO member nations in the context of the latest developments in Afghanistan.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization currently has six member nations, namely Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The Collective Security Treaty was signed in Tashkent in 1992.