CSTO Secretary General calls the scenario of NATO intervention in the zone of Russia and Belarus reckless

The scenario of NATO's invasion of the western borders of Russia and Belarus would be an absolutely reckless move on the part of the alliance. Imangali Tasmagambetov, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), said this on Wednesday, December 4, at a press conference on the results of the organization's activities in 2024.

"If we hypothetically imagine that there could be an invasion of the western borders of Belarus or Russia, it would be absolute folly on the part of NATO," he said, BelTA informs.

CSTO Secretary General expressed concern about the growing military activity of the North Atlantic Alliance near the borders of Belarus and Russia, which creates a tense geopolitical situation and makes various scenarios possible.

"Of course, in the Organization we are closely following the situation in the Eastern European part in the CSTO zone of responsibility. And we see the advancement of NATO offensive infrastructure to the western borders of Belarus and Russia, the growing military activity. In general, the geopolitical turbulence, which we observe, cannot exclude any scenarios at all," said Tasmagambetov.

Earlier, on November 29, Polish agency PAP reported that NATO military exercises TUMAK-24 started in Poland , they are held 70 km from the border with Russia. It was specified that the training is conducted by the 16th mechanized division of the Polish army and allied NATO forces, it involves about 2.5 thousand soldiers and uses 800 pieces of military equipment.

Before that, on October 28, military expert, retired colonel Anatoliy Matviychuk said that the November exercises of the North Atlantic Alliance Lightning Strike 24 in Finland are conducted by NATO as part of its campaign to develop the Arctic theater of military operations, and in the future the bloc hopes to displace Russia from this region. Such NATO maneuvers, as the retired military officer noted, demonstrate the alliance's preparation for an armed conflict.

On October 23, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry Andrei Belousov pointed out that NATO states held a series of exercises in 2024, which became the largest since the end of the Cold War. During these drills, the bloc's military practiced potential scenarios of a large-scale conflict with Russia. The minister added that the alliance was also expanding its combat training and intelligence activities.