MOSCOW. Sept 9 (Interfax-AVN) - The Collective Security Treaty Organization is ready to perform peacekeeping functions to defend the constitutional system of the member states, but it does not plan to become a weapon for quelling insurgency.
"We are categorically against assuming gendarme functions and or siding with any political force in its political struggle," CSTO General Secretary Nikolai Bordyuzha told reporters on Friday.
"If a legitimately elected head of a member-state asks the CSTO to help local law enforcement agencies maintain law and order, "the CSTO's potential could be used to defend the constitutional system," he said.
Then CSTO's participation is only possible if the national law enforcement services fail to cope with the situation, he added.
In such situations diplomacy could be used or the introduction of a peacekeeping contingent, Bordyuzha said.
The CSTO peacekeepers' participation in settlement procedures in member states is envisioned in the Charter, he said. "We have the right, by decision of the Collective Security Council, to use peacekeeping forces for disengaging the conflicting parties. No consent will be needed from the UN Security Council," he said.