"Recent events testify to the West's consistent destruction of the fundamental foundations of strategic stability and international security institutions," Gerasimov said at the opening of Thursday's meeting of the Committee of Chiefs of Staff (CCS) of the armed forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which is being held in Moscow.
He noted that today's meeting of the CIS military commanders "takes place against the backdrop of the rapidly changing military and political situation, which tends to become more complicated." According to Gerasimov, "not without external influence, hotbeds of tension are emerging in various corners of the planet, and international terrorism, supported by shadowy sponsors, remains a global threat to the world."
"In these conditions, the challenges to the commonwealth countries are becoming more real and diverse, which obliges us to have well-equipped and trained armed forces," he added.
He called it symbolic that today's joint work began with a tour of the exhibition of modern weapons, as well as military and special equipment used during the special military operation.
"I am sure that acquaintance with the achievements of the Russian military-industrial complex and promising developments implemented in the military sphere was interesting and useful for you," Gerasimov said.
Later during the meeting, he suggested analyzing the military-political situation in the world and on the borders of the commonwealth countries, to discuss the issues of creation and development of joint military systems in the CIS format, to consider the directions of combat training and field training of troops taking into account the experience of combat operations in modern conditions, to discuss other issues of multilateral military cooperation of mutual interest.