MOSCOW. Feb 20 (Interfax) - The member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will hold several major coalition exercises in Belarus before the end of this year, CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov told Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at a meeting on Monday.
"He informed the defense minister of Russia that the 2023 plan for joint training of the control and command centers of the collective security system's forces and hardware envisions holding a series of major exercise of the Collective Forces in Belarus," the organization's secretariat said.
"The Interaction 2023 exercise with the Collective Rapid Response Forces, the Search 2023 specialized exercise with reconnaissance forces and hardware, and the Echelon 2023 exercise with logistics support units are scheduled for September," the secretariat quoted Tasmagambetov as saying."Active work is ongoing to fine-tune the Collective Forces' command and control system, including in the field of communications," he said.
There is also a proposal to hold the Unbreakable Brotherhood 2023 exercise of the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces in Kyrgyzstan, Tasmagambetov said.
The CSTO consists of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.