Russia-led bloc worries over escalation of ‘frozen conflicts’ in post-Soviet space

MINSK, April 13. /TASS/. The Russia-led military alliance of former Soviet states CSTO said on Monday it was concerned over NATO attempts to interfere in the Ukraine conflict, and an escalation of almost all "frozen conflicts" in these territories. "We are paying much attention now to monitoring developments," said Nikolay Bordyuzha, secretary-general of the six-nation Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). "Our estimate - and this was confirmed at the CSTO Foreign Ministers Council meeting in Tajikistan - is that the situation is severe. It is very severe in all directions," Bordyuzha said, noting that "this refers to the Eastern European direction and the well-known events happening there". "But the main thing we are worried about is NATO trying to interfere in the process and those events taking place in Ukraine," he said, noting NATO’s move to send military instructors to provide advice and training to Kiev soldiers alongside steps to strengthen the alliance's military presence in Eastern Europe, moving U.S. troops and equipment eastwards. Bordyuzha said reports about NATO establishing command centres in six of its eastern countries were "extremely alarming". "This is nothing but creation of an infrastructure for military actions," he said. The situation was no better in other directions, Bordyuzha added. "Almost all so-called frozen conflicts are escalating," he said, emphasising the need to address issues of importance to the CSTO countries - Russia and former Soviet republics of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Raed more