MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization has practiced settling crisis situations during a simulation exercise, Imangali Tasmagambetov, the secretary general of the group, said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The algorithm of work of the CSTO’s permanent working agencies and the operational groups of the member states to make proposals for settling crisis situations has been practiced during a joint simulation exercise. We have gained additional experience in crisis response and in preparing a peacekeeping operation on the territory of a member state," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

According to the official, this experience will be used "in the work to optimize the crisis response system of the CSTO." Tasmagambetov also said that the situation simulated for the exercise reflected the current challenges and threats and enabled the students to complete the missions to a high standard.

Vladislav Shchegrikovich, the spokesman for the CSTO Joint Staff said in the same statement that in the Moscow-based CSTO Crisis Response Center, there were functional groups that included representatives of the Secretariat of the CSTO Joint Staff.

"CSTO Permanent Council members participated in the work. The operational groups of the organization’s member countries took part in the joint simulation exercise by video link," he said.

The CSTO said at the first phase of the exercise the participants made proposals for priority political and diplomatic measures for the settlement of a crisis situation and prepared draft resolutions for consideration and adoption by the organization’s executive agencies and the Collective Security Council of the CSTO. The second phase was dedicated to the preparation of proposals for CSTO agencies for a post-conflict settlement and a peacekeeping operation in the country that encountered the crisis situation, Shchegrikovich said. He said special focus was given to the formation of the collective peacekeeping force and its interoperability training under the mandate of the CSTO Collective Security Council.