MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) needs to enhance the practical cooperation on protecting the CSTO countries’ citizens and territories from biological threats, Mikael Agasandyan, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s First CIS Department, told the "Allies. CSTO" outlet.
"Russia is interested in strengthening collective efforts to counter international terrorism, illicit drug trafficking, illegal migration, and transnational crime. We see prospects for enhancing the CSTO's capacity to combat radicalization, which generates violence and encourages involvement in terrorist and extremist activities. Along with countering threats in the information landscape, the organization will need to bring practical cooperation on protecting citizens and territories of the CSTO member states from biological threats to a new height," he noted.
The diplomat added that Russia has always provided without compensation significant assistance to the CSTO states in ensuring sanitary and epidemiological well-being.
"We support further advancement of such cooperation. As allies, we should work together to ensure our biological safety," he emphasized.