The Joint Staff of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is working on proposals to hold a joint exercise of the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces in 2023 not in Armenia but in other member countries, Spokesman for the CSTO Joint Staff Vladislav Shchegrikovich told TASS on Tuesday.
He noted that the Joint Staff received information from the Armenian Defense Ministry on the inexpediency of holding drills with the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces on Armenian soil. "Currently, the CSTO Joint Staff is working on proposals on the possibility of holding such an exercise in other CSTO member states and defining the plan of joint training of governance bodies and formations of forces and means of the CSTO collective security system for 2023," the spokesman added.
Previously, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Russian Ground Forces will take part in eight international drills on Russian military grounds in 2023. Earlier on Tuesday, Pashinyan said that the Defense Minister of Armenia sent a written notification to the CSTO joint staff that, in the current situation, Yerevan considers hosting CSTO drills in the republic unfeasible. According to the Prime Minister, no such drills will be hosted this year, at least.
