Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a strong call for creating a new security architecture across Eurasia, based on the “equal and indivisible security” of all nations involved, in his speech to a Nov. 27 summit meeting in Bishkek of the five nations comprising the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Russia. According to the full transcript posted on the President of Russia’s website, Putin began by announcing that, as one of the priorities of Russia’s CSTO chairmanship in 2026, “the Russian side would like to propose holding an international expert forum on the creation of an equal and indivisible security architecture in Eurasia before the 2026 CSTO summit in Moscow. We intend to invite not only the delegations of the member states but also representatives of friendly countries and multilateral organizations and integration associations.”
Russian officials have repeatedly made it clear that they consider the existing security architecture to be outmoded—and a threat to Russia’s interests. For example, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the press after a meeting of the Russia-Belarus Foreign Ministries collegiums on Nov. 25: “We are looking at the Euro-Atlantic models that have run out of steam. NATO and the OSCE are Euro-Atlantic organizations…. The EU is steeped in the colonial mindset…. They follow their own strategies, including the ones that concern Russia…. To reiterate, Euro-Atlantic models have no future…. We strongly support the Eurasian approach to security. Eurasia is a single geopolitical space, and our approach to security must also be single, reflecting the balance of interests of all Eurasian countries, rather than depending on western Eurasia’s desire to dictate everything to everyone, as the EU and NATO are trying to do.”
In his Nov. 27 remarks, Putin elaborated on the proposed areas of security cooperation among the CSTO nations. “Of course, Russia will continue to work closely with its allies in all areas related to strengthening the CSTO’s military capabilities, focusing its efforts on reinforcing the combat readiness of national forces and improving the command and control of the collective forces. We propose launching a large-scale program to supply the collective forces with modern Russian weapons and military equipment, which have proven their effectiveness in military operations on the ground. It is in this spirit that we plan to organize a series of joint training events for our military units and special services.”
