Keeping an outpost: CSTO to maintain defense spending at current levels

The CSTO will keep defense spending at the current level, a source in the organization told Izvestia. At the same time, the organization is monitoring the discussion about increasing defense spending in NATO - the idea is being actively promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump. The interlocutor specified: the fact of the alliance's expansion to the East is of great concern to the organization. But despite the difficult situation in the world, the CSTO is generally ready to discuss topical security issues with NATO. What directions for cooperation between the two organizations experts see - in the material of "Izvestia".

Preserving CSTO expenditures

The CSTO is closely monitoring the development of the discussion on increasing defense spending in NATO, a source in the organization told Izvestia.

- The CSTO currently sees no need to increase defense spending. The organization is coping with its tasks and even in conditions of external political pressure remains an effective structure, an important element of the system of ensuring international security," the interlocutor added.

On January 21, US President Donald Trump called on NATO allies to raise military spending to the level of 5% of GDP. Now they are 2% (but not all states are ready to raise spending even to this level). In general, not everyone supported the idea of the American leader: German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius opposed Trump's proposal, noting that it was too high for Germany. Now, according to media reports, the alliance members are discussing the possibility of increasing spending to at least 3%. In particular, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte supports an increase in defense spending.

Military expenditures of most CSTO members are much lower. For example, Kyrgyzstan in 2023 allocated about 1.5% of GDP, Tajikistan - 1%. In 2024, Bishkek even reduced its expenditures. Kazakhstan in 2024 stated its intention to allocate 0.68% of GDP for defense. In Belarus, military spending averaged 1.18% from 2018 to 2022. Armenia's defense spending in 2025 will amount to 6% of GDP, which is 0.7% more than last year. Russia's national defense spending in 2024 will reach 6.3% of GDP.

The CSTO is now more concerned about the growth of the North Atlantic Alliance.

- The organization is very concerned about the fact of the alliance's expansion to the East, very aggressive rhetoric towards a number of member states of the organization and ignoring the norms of international law by key NATO members," the source stressed.

In recent years, the military presence of NATO countries in the immediate vicinity of the borders of Belarus and Russia has been increasing, in particular, the Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff Andrei Serdyukov reminded on January 30. The growth of tension in the Eastern European region is unprecedented, he said. In recent years, the alliance's allies have established multinational combat groups in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. In particular, they have sent more ships, airplanes and troops to NATO's eastern flank.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also repeatedly drawn attention to this problem. "It looks most visibly in the context of NATO's eastward expansion. [The U.S. and EU authorities] promised they would not, and they keep doing it, keep doing it, and keep doing it. <...> On any key issue they simply did not care about our opinion. In the end, all of this together began to look like such a creeping intervention, which, without any exaggeration, would be aimed at some kind of belittling, or better - at the destruction of the country either from inside or outside," he said in November 2024.

CSTO-NATO Interaction

Nevertheless, there could be room for cooperation between the CSTO and NATO, and the organization as a whole is ready to discuss topical problems with the alliance.

- The degradation of the regional and global security situation contributes to the formation of new areas for interaction to ensure stability. However, NATO's actions against some members of the organization actually block such opportunities. In addition, the West has apparently never been willing to recognize the CSTO as a subject of the system of ensuring international security, and even more so at present, as it does not fit into the geostrategies of the key member countries of the Euro-Atlantic community. Despite this, the CSTO, following the principles of equal and indivisible security, is open and ready to discuss topical security problems and cooperation," the source told Izvestia.

There is indeed room for cooperation between the sides, said Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior researcher at the IMEMO RAS Center for European Studies.

- Fighting terrorism is a win-win topic for cooperation between the two sides. In addition, it could be different kinds of operations to rescue people in natural disasters - here we could cooperate and use each other's experience," the expert said.

At the same time, if the situation in the international arena improves, the parties could try to cooperate at the level of the regions that are members of the structures.

- For example, we could try to cooperate at this level: the Pskov Oblast and Estonia. The latter is a member of NATO, and the Pskov Oblast is a part of Russia, which is a member of the CSTO. It would be possible to try out some mechanisms of cooperation at this regional or district level," he says.

However, it should be noted that there has never been any serious cooperation between the CSTO and NATO. Since 2004, the organization has repeatedly initiated dialogue with the alliance on countering terrorism, drug trafficking, conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping, and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the CSTO interlocutor said. However, Brussels did not react in any way, thus reflecting the West's general position on the CSTO, the interlocutor added.

In May 2019, an open appeal of the foreign ministers of the member states of the organization to the heads of the foreign ministries of the North Atlantic Alliance countries on strengthening mutual trust, creating mechanisms of interaction and developing cooperation was adopted. But this initiative also remained unanswered. NATO rather prefers to establish and develop bilateral cooperation with individual CSTO member states. In particular, the alliance is trying to bring Armenia into its orbit, especially after Yerevan froze its membership in the CSTO in 2024.

In general, Russia has been repeatedly mentioned as a challenge for the North Atlantic Alliance. Obviously, as long as this approach persists, it is unlikely that NATO and the CSTO will begin to cooperate.