The Russian Federation, during its year of chairmanship in the CSTO under the motto “Collective Security in a Multipolar World: One Goal – Common Responsibility”, places special emphasis on the comprehensive development of regional cooperation in combating drug crime.
On March 9, on the margins of the opening 69th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, a Russian thematic event “Regional Efforts in Combating Drug Crime: Best Practices of CSTO, SCO and CIS” took place, organized in collaboration with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
During the practice-oriented interactive session, results of interaction among the relevant structures of the member states of these organizations over the past years were presented, including outcomes of the preventive operations “Channel” (conducted annually since 2003 with participation of competent authorities of the CSTO member states) and “Web” (in the SCO format). CSTO Deputy Secretary-General Valeriy Semerikov sent a video address to participants of the event.
The CSTO, SCO and CIS member states remain committed to the drug control system based on the three relevant UN conventions, share a common aspiration to build a drug-free world, and demonstrate readiness for mutual support and the development of counter-narcotics interaction mechanisms. These priorities formed the basis for documents adopted in 2025, including:
- the CSTO Counter-Narcotics Strategy for 2026–2030;
- the Agreement on the Establishment of the SCO Counter-Narcotics Center in Dushanbe;
- the Treaty on the Procedure for Organizing and Conducting International Controlled Delivery by Competent Authorities of the CIS Member States;
- the Roadmap for Developing Cooperation among the CIS, CSTO and SCO for 2026–2028.
Regional approaches to addressing the drug problem were reflected in the counter-narcotics statement by the leaders of the CSTO member states, which was circulated as a meeting room document of the current CND session.