Putin’s office: no plans to involve Collective Security Treaty Organisation forces in the war in Ukraine

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO - MONDAY, 20 JUNE 2022, 13:19

The Kremlin said that the question of the possible involvement of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation [CSTO is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia - ed.] forces in hostilities in Ukraine was not considered, but stressed the importance of the CSTO for Russia.

Source: Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary to the Russian president, quoted by Russia's Interfax

Details: "No. This option was not considered," Peskov said when asked about the possibility of involving CSTO forces in Russia's war in Ukraine.

At the same time, according to Putin's press secretary, "the CSTO is of great importance; the CSTO has demonstrated its efficiency, agility and worth in the recent past."

Quote: "Development of the CSTO is one of our foreign policy and security priorities."

Background: Kremlin-controlled Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has accused CSTO members of not getting involved in Russia's war against Ukraine. 

Reminder: Russia positions the CSTO as an alternative to NATO. Experts call the CSTO a structure through which Moscow governs neighbouring countries. A precedent for the use of CSTO forces, which member states call "peacekeepers," was the situation in Kazakhstan in January 2022, when mass protests began in the country after the jump in liquefied natural gas prices.