Military cooperation, coordination, regional connectivity: Ryzhenkov on stopping security threats

Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov, during a speech at a joint meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defense Ministers and the Committee of Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils on November 10 in Moscow, announced the republic's initiatives in ensuring security on the continent, sb.by reports.

The main task of the Republic of Belarus is to strengthen the unity and monolithicity of the CSTO states to relieve risks and threats to security in Eurasia. Maxim Ryzhenkov listed Belarusian initiatives in this area.

- One. Increasing the level of cooperation of the CSTO member states in the military sphere, a network of annual exercises of various sectoral orientation. This is an increase in the combat capability of both national contingents and the collective forces of the CSTO. The contribution of Belarus this year is the command-staff exercise with the CSTO peacekeeping forces “Indestructible Brotherhood – 2026” and the special exercise on the elimination of biological threats “Barrier-2026”. It is necessary to strengthen cooperation to develop common approaches to the development and production of new models of weapons and military equipment, he said.

Belarus considers strengthening foreign policy coordination and mutual support through coordinated and coordinated work at the platforms of all international organizations, primarily the United Nations.

- I would like to thank my colleagues for supporting the Belarusian resolution on the prohibition of the development and production of new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons, which was adopted last week by an overwhelming majority of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly. This is our common contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security. At the same time, we have repeatedly talked about the principle of corporate solidarity within the CSTO on key issues for each party. So far, unfortunately, it is not always used, the minister said.

The third topic of interaction is the deepening of the CSTO’s connectivity with other regional organizations in Eurasia in order to form a network of complementary structures that could cement the emerging security structure throughout the Eurasian space.

- We see the Eurasian Charter for Diversity and Multipolarity in the XXI Century as a link in this process. The first round of negotiations on this document will be held in Minsk in the first decade of December this year. We look forward to the participation of your delegations in the upcoming event. We have already sent invitations to everyone, Maxim Ryzhenkov addressed the forum participants.

Our country sees the next important topic as increasing the effectiveness of countering hybrid challenges and security threats, including in the information space.

Fake news and disinformation destabilize society, especially young people. We can all see the impact of social media. Therefore, we believe that we should be very careful about the so-called soft power. In this direction, coordinated work of special services, foreign ministries, news agencies and public associations is needed, the Belarusian Foreign Minister said.

He called the strengthening of the parliamentary dimension a significant aspect of cooperation in the field of security.

20 years ago, within the framework of the Belarusian chairmanship in the CSTO, a decision was made to develop interaction between the parliaments of the member states of the organization. Institutional design of the Parliamentary Assembly will give impetus to the joint work of the legislative bodies of our countries and strengthen the voice of CSTO parliamentarians at international inter-parliamentary platforms, which will only add to the visibility of our organization as a whole, said Maxim Ryzhenkov.

The sixth point in the Minister’s speech was the issue of increasing the analytical and forecast component.

- Good analytics is a qualitative strengthening of the activities of any international organization and a more effective, proactive response to emerging security challenges and threats. In 2027, information and analytical management will begin work in the structure of the CSTO secretariat. We wish success to the new unit and expect a concrete, tangible result, the Belarusian Foreign Minister concluded. Western politicians and Ukrainian side are trying to draw Belarus into armed confrontation – Ryzhenkov