MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization is a multifunctional structure, which is capable of adequately reacting to different challenges and threats, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after a session of the councils of CSTO foreign and defense ministers, and secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils on Monday.

“The session was held in a constructive and trust-based atmosphere. We discussed allied relations in the organization, including further improvement of the collective security system, peacekeeping activities, prospects for strengthening military cooperation and coordinating foreign political tasks,” Lavrov said.

“The CSTO is capable of carrying out tasks to counter terrorism, drug trafficking, organised crime. These functions are recorded in the resolution, which was adopted at the UN General Assembly last month,” he said.

The organisation’s priorities are to strengthen international and regional security and stability, and protect the member-states’ independence and territorial integrity on the collective basis. “Political means prioritise in the solution of problems,” he said.

“Our colleagues noted that Russia’s presidency succeeded in carrying out tasks set by the heads of state. Today we’ve approved a draft statement, which will be submitted to the CSTO Council’s session tomorrow. It confirms that the stable collective security system can be only created on the fair and equal basis. The draft statement contains the CSTO member-countries’ common approaches towards key international issues,” Lavrov said.

The ministers also approved other draft documents on strengthening the CSTO collective rapid reaction force and countering different threats, including in information technology. A draft anti-drug strategy till 2020 is submitted to the CSTO heads of state, he said.

Russia hopes that these documents “will facilitate further effectiveness of the organization to ensure stability on the Eurasian space”, Lavrov said.

CSTO key element of security and stability in Eurasia

Tajikistan's Foreign Minister Sirodzhidin Aslov said the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is the key element of security of the CSTO states and stability in the Eurasian region.

CSTO is capable of reacting adequately to the fast changing geopolitical and geostrategic situation in the world, Aslov said on Monday after a joint meeting of the Council of the CSTO Foreign and Defense Ministers and Secretaries of the Security Councils of the CSTO member states.

“Today’s meeting was devoted to the state and prospects of interaction within our organization’s framework. The ministers discussed the main trends in development of the military and political situation in the world and the CSTO area of responsibility,” Aslov said.

“In this context, the Republic of Tajikistan, which has taken over the CSTO’s presidency, made a number of proposals aimed at improving joint actions of CSTO member states in view of a complicated situation, which is unfolding in neighboring Afghanistan and the Middle East,” Aslov went on to say.

The sides, according to Aslov, also discussed how to make right assessment of threats and work out long-term workable mechanisms of reaction to them.

“Improvement in the CSTO activities was also part of the agenda,” the Tajik foreign minister said.

“Tajikistan has set forth priority areas of interaction for the time of its CSTO presidency aimed at strengthening the organization’s potential,” the Tajik foreign minister went on to say.

“We also discussed new spheres of joint work concerning the creation of new and improvement of existing mechanisms of counteracting threats and challenges such as terrorism, narcotic expansion, recruitment of our citizens to the ranks of terrorist groups and cybercrime,” Aslov said adding the proposals enlisted the support of Tajikistan’s colleagues at CSTO.

“The common opinion is that the solution of this range of issues will make it possible to raise the efficiency of CSTO as the key element of security and stability in Eurasia capable of reacting adequately to the fast changing geopolitical and geostrategic situation in the world,” the Tajik foreign minister emphasized.