CSTO Is NATO’s Real Regional Rival” – Top Belarusian Military Expert

On 6 April, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko held talks with CSTO Secretary General Taalatbek Masadykov. While the meeting covered a wide range of issues, Lukashenko’s pointed remarks on the need for more careful and thoughtful engagement with Armenia caught particular attention.

In an interview for “Actual Interview,” Colonel Andrey Bogodel — Deputy Head of the General Staff Faculty at the Military Academy of the Armed Forces of Belarus — outlined exactly how the organisation should work with Yerevan to bring Armenia fully back into the CSTO family.

The prospect of Armenia leaving the Collective Security Treaty Organisation raises the serious question of a major structural overhaul. Such a departure would result in the complete loss of the Caucasus security zone (a precedent already set when Uzbekistan suspended its membership in 2012). This region is of critical strategic importance for Caspian security and the North–South transport corridor.

“Given the developments in Iran and the course of the special military operation, the security of the entire CSTO zone hinges on resolving these issues. Armenia’s role is therefore exceptionally important,” Bogodel explained.

According to the expert, three organisations in the region now lay claim to the status of full-scale military-political blocs: NATO, the CSTO, and — in some respects — the European Union, which occasionally assumes the role of the North Atlantic Alliance through its own structures, such as the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) coalition of the willing. Similar dynamics are now unfolding across the Caucasus.

“The Collective Security Treaty Organisation is a genuine regional rival to the North Atlantic Alliance,” Bogodel stated firmly.

He believes that military alliances will play the decisive role in shaping the future world order. While political and economic organisations remain significant, only military blocs can provide real, concrete security guarantees.

“Presidents Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin speak more and more often about a multipolar world. But what will this multipolar world actually look like while the United States continues to exert pressure from every direction?” the expert asked. “We are already witnessing the gradual formation of regional macro-entities, each with its own economy and information space. To protect these macro-regions, however, military power is indispensable. That is why, alongside economic and political bodies, new military blocs are taking shape.”

Bogodel is convinced that the CSTO — in which Russia plays the leading role — will only truly come into its own and demonstrate its full potential once Russia achieves victory in the special military operation.