MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. Representatives of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have reached an agreement on the Cobalt-2024 special exercise and decided to hold it in the second half of this year, according to a report on the results of the Novosibirsk talks published on the CSTO website.

"In Novosibirsk, the participants of the interested ministries and departments of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and the CSTO Secretariat held negotiations, during which they discussed the preparation of the Cobalt-2024 special exercise with the commanding bodies and formations of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces," the statement said. "As a result of the staff talks, the participants reached an agreement on holding the Cobalt-2024 special exercise in the second half of 2024," the statement emphasized.

In addition, the organization pointed out that the participants of the exercise "considered and agreed on the essence of the exercise, as well as issues of organizing comprehensive support." "During the meeting, reconnaissance of the exercise areas, deployment of the command and operational headquarters were carried out," it added.

"The heads of delegations of the CSTO member states participating in the second staff talks gave high marks to the preparation and conduct of the exercise," the CSTO concluded.

Earlier, CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov said at the meeting of the Council and the sixteenth plenary session of the organization’s Parliamentary Assembly that the CSTO plans to hold seven joint combat exercises on the territory of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in 2024.