Belarus to support CSTO initiatives at UN
Belarus will support the CSTO partners’ initiatives at the UN platform aimed at promoting security in Afghanistan and the border regions, and neutralisation of the challenges and threats related to terrorism and extremism – as stated by the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN, Valentin Rybakov, during the UN Security Council open debate on co-operation between the United Nations and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation
“Over the past period, the CSTO has passed a significant and very difficult path of transformation – from an inherently defensive union into a multifunctional security organisation that has real tools and collective mechanisms to combat a wide range of modern challenges and threats. We view the development of co-operation between our two organisations in areas of mutual interest as a natural and logical process,” Mr. Rybakov emphasised.
As part of the organisation’s work aimed at maintaining peace and security, it also focuses on the situation in Afghanistan that borders the CSTO states. “Belarus will support the CSTO partners’ initiatives at the UN platform aimed at promoting security in Afghanistan and the border regions, and neutralisation of the challenges and threats related to terrorism and extremism. In this context, establishment of systematic interaction between the CSTO Secretariat and the UN Counter-Terrorism Office is of particular importance. The basis for this is available in the form of a corresponding memorandum as of November 9th, 2018,” the diplomat added.
Mr. Rybakov believes peacekeeping is a promising avenue. He said, “In 2011, Belarus put forward an initiative to develop co-operation between the CSTO and the UN in this sphere, and the country considers an ongoing dialogue between the two organisations on this topic is of great importance.”
The Belarusian diplomat added that the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces were first deployed in January 2022 in Kazakhstan, following an appeal of the country’s President and in full compliance with the UN Charter and the Collective Security Treaty. Mr. Rybakov stressed with confidence, “A high potential of the CSTO in the field of peacekeeping can be extremely useful for the UN peacekeeping system that lacks specialists, hardware and infrastructure. We believe that sending mobile hospitals, military medics or demining brigades, as well as equipment and infrastructure could be a possible form of CSTO participation in UN peacekeeping campaigns within the framework of Security Council mandates.”
