MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has reinforced its aviation group and increased personnel, CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov told TASS an interview, commenting on the results of his three-year presidency.

"During my presidency (from January 2023 to December 31, 2025 - TASS), the international situation deteriorated, became increasingly unmanageable, requiring the Organization to constantly adapt, improve the effectiveness of traditional methods of ensuring collective security, and seek new means of enhancing stability in the CSTO's area of responsibility," he said. "During this period, the potential of the Collective Forces increased dramatically. The CSTO aviation group was reinforced, and the number of personnel almost doubled. The Organization's member states paid increased attention to military education," the CSTO chief emphasized.

During this three-year period, constructive interaction with international organizations was maintained: "we have traditionally maintained a high level of cooperation with the UN, including in developing the CSTO's peacekeeping potential and integrating it into UN peacekeeping activities, and successfully developed dialogue with the CIS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)," Tasmagambetov said. "In particular, the implementation of the initiative to create a ‘security belt’ around Afghanistan serves the interests of the three organizations. This September, a Roadmap for developing cooperation between the CSTO, SCO, and CIS was adopted," he added. Tasmagambetov also noted that the collective force regularly held the military drills codenamed ‘Interaction,’ ‘Search,’ ‘Echelon,’ ‘Frontier,’ ‘Indestructible Brotherhood,’ and ‘Barrier’ to improve separate troop training aspects, with due account for the latest combat experience.

Successful Operations

The Secretary General also noted excellent results of ongoing operations in the areas of combating terrorism, drug trafficking, and illegal migration: "As part of the anti-drug operation 'Channel,’ more than 8 tons of narcotic and psychotropic substances were seized in 2025 alone, and Operation 'Illegal,' for example, prevented more than 130,000 violations of migration legislation in 2024." In addition, special forces units of CSTO member states conducted regular exercises codenamed ‘Cobalt’ and ‘Rock,’ aimed, respectively, at eliminating illegal armed groups and emergency response.

Other Achievements

Tasmagambetov noted that the CSTO has consistently expanded its work in the information and analytical sphere: the Mnogopolyarnaya Analytica (Multipolar Analytics) journal, the information and analytical publication Allies. CSTO, and the Telegram channel EMITA have been created. In honor of the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, the CSTO Secretariat held an academic conference on the contribution of our peoples to its achievement, and published an encyclopedia, ‘The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.’ An annual conceptual analytical report, "Greater Eurasian Partnership: Shared Responsibility for a Secure Future," has also been prepared.

Among the CSTO's key achievements over the past three years, the Secretary General also highlighted the improvement of the crisis response system and the approval of the Targeted Interstate Program to Strengthen the Tajik-Afghan Border. Furthermore, in 2025, the Organization's main focus will be ensuring cybersecurity.

The results of the Organization's work over the past three years are presented in more detail in the Report, which is available on the CSTO’s information resources.

Future Tasks

According to the Secretary General, the CSTO faces many challenges, including enhancing the organization's effectiveness and adaptability, with a view to combating hybrid threats, using all the alliance's capabilities. "I’d like to emphasize that the CSTO is consistently implementing a strategy to strengthen collective security, combining operational readiness with diplomatic and analytical tools, and will continue to adhere to this approach," he concluded.