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Russia not opposing idea of using CSTO Collective Rapid Response to prevent coups, says presidential aide

Russia does not oppose the idea of using the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)`s Collective Rapid Response Force to prevent coups, Sergei Prikhodko, aide to Dmitry Medvedev, told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday.

Russia shares the opinion that the force could be used for the purpose, said Mr. Prikhodko, according to RIA Novosti.

Media reports speculating that Russia is critical of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s proposal for deploying the force to prevent coups are incorrect, he said. “In regard to this specific issue, he was articulating a position approved by the Russian side.”

Mr. Prikhodko said that Minsk and Moscow had their differences, but they did not concern the CSTO’s activities.

He added that the Russian president “is also satisfied with the nature and tone of a discussion on the most pressing issues of bilateral cooperation,” which took place during his recent meeting with Mr. Lukashenka in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Earlier this week, Russia`s newspaper Izvestia reported that the Kremlin opposes the Belarusian leader`s proposal for using the Collective Rapid Response Force to prevent coups.

By insisting on this, Mr. Lukashenka tries to take advantage of the Organization and vulgarizes the idea of CSTO assistance, the newspaper quoted a source in the Kremlin.

The idea was initially put forward by Russia at an informal CSTO summit in Astana on August 12, the source said.

The Collective Rapid Response Force could be used not just to prevent acts of aggression from the outside but also foreign intervention from the inside, Mr. Lukashenka said in Minsk on August 30 while meeting with CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha.

"We discussed this problem seriously," the Belarusian leader said. "This would be significant support for countries that will be part of the CSTO. No one would go to war against us today, but many are itching to overthrow the constitutional government. Of course, we should protect the integrity and independence of the CSTO countries."

Mr. Bordyuzha commented to Izvestia that the potential of the CSTO might be used to deal with threats to a member country`s constitutional system only if they cannot be handled domestically. "The CSTO may intervene when national forces are simply incapable of handling the situation, when the situation spins out of control, there is a threat to the lives and safety of people, and there are mass robberies and looting going on," he said. "What happened in Minsk in December 2010 is the state`s internal affair." //BelaPAN