Afghanistan Peace Campaign
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) said potential threats and security risks emanating from Afghanistan territory remain high, after officials and regional representatives met in Moscow to review the situation in Afghanistan.
The warning came at the 43rd meeting of the Afghanistan working group under the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers, held on Wednesday at the organization’s secretariat.
The meeting brought together delegations from CSTO member states as well as representatives from the U.N. Office of Counter-Terrorism, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the CIS anti-terror bodies and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Participants exchanged views on Afghanistan’s military, political and humanitarian situation and discussed its implications for regional stability.
In a statement, the CSTO said participants stressed the need to continue humanitarian and economic support for the people of Afghanistan despite persistent instability. Officials also backed continued monitoring of developments in Afghanistan and called for efforts to encourage peaceful processes and reduce the risk of wider regional spillover.
The Moscow meeting reflects continuing concern among Central Asian and Russian-led security institutions that instability inside Afghanistan could affect neighboring countries. The CSTO has repeatedly warned in recent years that extremist and militant groups operating in or around Afghanistan could exploit weak governance, porous borders and regional tensions.
The concern is not only military but also strategic, as countries bordering Afghanistan remain worried about cross-border militancy, trafficking and the movement of armed groups. Regional security organizations have increasingly coordinated their assessments, especially as Afghanistan remains outside formal regional security frameworks while still influencing them heavily.
At the same time, international organizations continue to warn that Afghanistan’s internal fragility is being compounded by humanitarian and economic strain. The United Nations says millions remain dependent on aid, while reduced international funding and the return of large numbers of Afghans from neighboring countries have added new pressure to an already fragile environment.
The CSTO has long viewed Afghanistan as one of the main external security concerns for its Central Asian members, particularly Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. That concern has only sharpened since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, even though large-scale regional spillover has so far remained limited.
The latest CSTO warning suggests that, despite no immediate regional crisis, Afghanistan remains at the center of overlapping security and humanitarian concerns. For Moscow and its allies, the challenge is now to contain risks without allowing Afghanistan’s instability to further unsettle Central Asia.