Russian Alternative to NATO? CSTO and UN to Sign an Agreement

Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Secretary General Nikolai Bordiuja and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are planning to sign an agreement on cooperation, according to Russian daily Kommersant.

Earlier, a similar document had been signed between UN and NATO.

Russian experts say the agreement will prove how highly the CSTO is evaluated by the international community, and in this way, CSTO and NATO will be recognized as organizations who have equal footing.

Bordiuja told the Russian paper that the agreement is set to be signed on March 18 when Ban Ki-moon pays an official visit to Moscow.

Bordiuja also said that the document to be signed is not a memorandum but a declaration, though “its spirit and letter correspond to our preliminary plan,” as several provisions about cooperation stipulated in the draft — sent to New York for the UN’s review last autumn — are included in the declaration.