The military potential of CSTO member states (Collective Security Treaty Organisation, CSTO, a military alliance of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan) pales in comparison with that of NATO forces. However, the combat readiness of the Collective Security Treaty member countries turned out to be much higher.
The forces of the CSTO countries have been redeployed to Kazakhstan in three days, while it took NATO a week to deploy 1,700 troops in Eastern Europe.
This seemingly unremarkable fact indicates that NATO has a lot to catch up with when it comes to issues of combat readiness. Instead, CSTO countries are ready to respond to any external threat much more quickly.
Being such a complicated structure, it may take NATO a week to agree on any actions, while the deployment of forces may take several weeks, specialists believe, avia.pro website reports.
The deployment of insignificant NATO forces in Eastern Europe suggests that the military bloc does not have available forces, while the troops that the alliance deploys in the region do not constitute significant military force.
As a result of violent protests that sparked in Kazakhstan on January 2, 2022, the government of Kazakhstan was dismissed, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, headed the country's Security Council and introduced a state of emergency in the republic until January 19. He also turned to the CSTO with a request to send peacekeeping forces to the republic. According to Tokayev, 2,030 CSTO peacekeepers and 250 pieces of equipment arrived in the country.