Russia’s Shoigu Accuses NATO of Training for Invasion of CSTO Countries
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ALMATY (Sputnik) – Sergei Shoigu, a former Russian defense minister who now chairs the national security council, accused NATO on Thursday of increasing the number of military drills along the western and northern flank of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in what he said was a preparation for invasion.”The alliance has been building up military presence and deploying new weapons along the northern and western flanks of the collective security zone. The number of airspace provocations is on the rise, and numerous military exercises are being conducted to train, among other things, for an invasion of CSTO countries’ territories,” Shoigu told fellow secretaries of CSTO member states’ security councils. He called “NATO’s continuous expansion” a direct threat for CSTO allies. The Russian official said the West was using the conflict in Ukraine as a weapon against Russia in the hope of inflicting as much damage as possible. 
WorldWestern Powers ‘Destroying Foundations of Strategic Stability,’ Russian General Staff Chief Says4 April, 13:55 GMT”The West is pursuing the obvious goal of using Ukraine as a weapon against Russia in order to inflict as much damage as possible on our country. It has become absolutely clear that the attempt to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia has failed,” Shoigu said. Turning to the CSTO’s eastern flank, Shoigu said Russia was concerned about new militant training camps cropping up across Afghanistan and jihadists flocking to the Central Asian country from Syria and Iraq. He said the risk of terrorist spillovers was increasing.
