MINSK, June 20. /TASS/. Security threats on the western flanks of the territory covered by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a zone of shared responsibility for the Belarusian and Russian armed forces, are of the most serious nature, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told a CSTO foreign ministers’ meeting in Minsk.

"The CSTO happens to allocate responsibility zones [to member states]. Real military threats to security have emerged on the western flanks, so to speak, of the CSTO, unfortunately for us and Russia, because this is our zone of responsibility, too," the Belarusian leader said, describing the threats as "very serious, or more serious than anywhere else."

Apart from Belarus, which holds the rotating CSTO presidency in 2023, the organization’s membership also includes Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.