Increasing CSTO peacekeeping potential may enable participation in UN operations, says Russian Foreign Minister

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed on Tuesday the need to boost the peacekeeping potential of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), expressing the belief that this would enable the organization to take part in UN peacekeeping operations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed on Tuesday the need to boost the peacekeeping potential of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), expressing the belief that this would enable the organization to take part in UN peacekeeping operations. "We consider it important to maintain regular dialogue in the CSTO format on the whole range of security issues in the Euro-Atlantic in order to coordinate the approaches of the allies. Special attention should be paid to increasing the CSTO peacekeeping capacity. Today we will continue to discuss ways to resolve organizational issues and to improve the legal framework. I expect that this will allow CSTO units to participate in peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations," Lavrov said at a video conference of the CSTO foreign ministers.

The CSTO unites Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Russia currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the alliance.