... contradictions, meaning the SCO became an important platform for communication and building mutual trust. Wide-scale efforts were undertaken to create and expand security institutions in the heart of Eurasia. In 2002, a decision was made to create the CSTO, a military- political alliance of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In 2015, after extensive preparatory work, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) was launched. The five members of the Union (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia) worked hard to form new markets and common economic ...
... beginning of summer 2025 was not the calmest for Eurasia and Russian policy in this vast region. The military-political crisis around Iran, if it escalates further, could significantly affect the potential for cooperation and international security. Russia's relations with previously friendly Armenia, a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), are not getting any easier. Misunderstandings in relations between Russia and Azerbaijan are, of course, completely incomparable in scale with the crisis in the Middle East. However, they also indicate that ...
... handling relations with all partners, so as to maintain good relations, while also protecting Kazakhstan’s interests. Politically, Kazakhstan is deeply tied to Russia, which has been explicitly shown in January 2022, when it requested the intervention of CSTO and Russian peacekeepers to face an attempted rebel
takeover
. The same can be said on other politically relevant positions, such as collaborating on the
creation
of an integrated digital information system for EAEU member states. Economically, Russia ...
... Beijing sees consensus in the Eurasian space as the elaboration of a common development strategy bolstered economically.
Third
, blurring the SCO’s regional security functionality means that one cannot always see a clear boundary between the SCO and the CSTO, especially since a number of countries, including Russia, are members of both structures. Moreover, if we take the Central Asian track, it is the CSTO that remains the real guarantor of high-level security for the countries of the region in the face of current challenges and threats, while the SCO’s ...
... that many Kyrgyz citizens have dual Russian-Kyrgyz citizenship.
Kyrgyzstan has a relatively well-developed non-governmental sector, which is stronger than elsewhere in Central Asia. Many local NGOs receive Western funding and stand for looser ties with Russia, down to exiting the EEU and the CSTO. It is their activists who often condemn Russia’s policies. Kyrgyzstan expressly refuses to burn bridges behind its relations with Ukraine, focusing on close economic, cultural and humanitarian ties with the country.
The cautiousness of the Kyrgyz ...
... reasons — an alliance no longer becomes an instrument for ensuring the collective interests of its participants, but a factor in diplomatic interaction between them. Now, Russia’s conditional ally in the South Caucasus can use the presence of the CSTO as a way to put pressure on Russian diplomacy, while removing all responsibility from itself. In another case, we are witnessing a direct military clash between Russia’s formal allies, each of which demands Moscow’s support.
As a result, the very idea of union, in the sense ...
... meeting touched upon matters of further economic support for Tajikistan. By building up contacts with Tajikistan while simultaneously controlling its foreign trade with its key partner, the U.S. wants to limit Tajikistan’s bilateral relations with Russia.
Finally, as a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Tajikistan intends to view this organization as a resource in case Dushanbe loses control of the situation in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO). January 2022 set a precedent of resorting to the CSTO’s forces in Kazakhstan to protect ...
... to the European theatre. This does not mean that Moscow will not have the resources to help its allies in the event of a situation akin to what happened in Kazakhstan - the forces required for this are extremely small in number compared to those that Russia will have to use in the West.
Therefore, now it becomes relevant for all CSTO countries not only to coordinate their actions, but also to create new practical mechanisms for responding to emerging external and internal threats. These threats will not disappear and will not be solved by any external actors - the countries of ...
... to the
recent turmoil in Kazakhstan
dealt a
significant blow
to Ankara’s ambitions in post-Soviet Eurasia and the “Turkic World.” In quick order, Kazakhstan’s President managed to gain control over the situation in close coordination with Russia and the CSTO. The episode vividly underscored the importance that Russia attaches to the post-Soviet space as its primary zone of vital national security interests. It also highlighted the reality that, in today’s multipolar world, Turkey, despite all the talk ...
... significant Russian ethnic minority in the northern provinces of the country, or the official status of the Russian language, all highlight that one cannot easily dismiss the critical importance that Kazakhstan bears for the national interests of Russia. .
Russia’s domination in the CSTO peacekeeping mission was not about occupying Kazakhstan, as there was no direct threat that could endanger Moscow’s vital interests; on the contrary, Kazakhstan is a battle ground to win minds and hearts of the population and less of a fortress....
