Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO)

Purpose

A Russia-led collective security alliance among several former Soviet states, providing for mutual defence and coordinated responses to security threats.

Members:

6 member states

Headquarters:

Moscow, Russia

History

The CSTO developed from the 1992 Collective Security Treaty signed by several post-Soviet states and was formally reorganized as the CSTO in 2002, functioning as a Russian-led security framework often compared to a post-Soviet counterpart to NATO.

Structure

• Collective Security Council
• Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General

Key facts

• Deployed a CSTO peacekeeping force to Kazakhstan in January 2022 to help suppress widespread unrest, its first major operational deployment

Pakistan's relationship

Not a member (restricted to former Soviet states).