The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is ready to cooperate with Uzbekistan, but the country’s return to this structure depends on the will of people and the leadership of the country, the CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas said on Monday at an online briefing.

“We are ready to cooperate with Uzbekistan, such cooperation is already underway. Uzbek servicemen take part in some of our exercises, primarily military trainings. This is useful in terms of sharing experiences. But the return of Uzbekistan to our organization will depend, first of all, on the will of the Uzbek people and the leadership of this country,” he said.

The CSTO Secretary General also welcomed the participation of Uzbekistan in the extraordinary session of the Collective Security Council, dedicated to the situation in Afghanistan.

The session was held by videoconference under the chairmanship of President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon. The leaders discussed issues of ensuring the security of the CSTO member states in the context of the latest events in Afghanistan.

The CSTO is an international security organization, which now has six members: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The Collective Security Treaty was signed in 1992 in Tashkent.