Yhe Russian President’s Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) , which consists of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan….
These countries WERE supposed to send troops to work with Russian’s with obasevers from other countries showing up to watch the military excersizes…
Well?
Seems that the countries are dropping out of sending their treoops to hang out with Russian’s….
Putin nand Co. seems to be losing his friends, eh?
The move by Bishkek [Kyrgyzstan] is the latest indication that tensions may be simmering within the alliance, formed in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Last month, Armenia skipped a two-week drill held by the collective in Kazakhstan, after criticizing the bloc for failing to openly side with it after large-scale fighting erupted on its border with non-member Azerbaijan in September.
Russia and other CSTO countries effectively turned down Yerevan’s request for military aid, issued hours after hostilities began, and limited their response to sending fact-finding missions to the border. Armenian authorities had accused the Azerbaijani government in Baku of using heavy artillery and combat drones to strike Armenian army positions.
Despite its apparent ambitions to provide a counterpart to NATO, the CSTO has at times struggled to define its exact purpose. Failure to engage in numerous security crises among its members over the years has prompted analysts to question its viability.
Last spring, the bloc looked on impassively as two members, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, were engaged in a bloody border dispute.
The CSTO’s focus has instead been aimed more intensely on enhancing readiness for potential spillover from Afghanistan, which shares a long border with Tajikistan. As of last month, Russia had around 5,000 troops stationed in that country, down from 7,000 in January as the Kremlin has drawn down its military presence to replenish its ranks in Ukraine amid the eight-month war….