Putin at CSTO Council Meeting in Astana

Meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council in a narrow format.

Interwoven with his state visit to Kazakhstan was the Collective States Treaty Organization Council’s meeting is Astana, the Kazakh capital. The meeting was held in both narrow and wide formats, with much more of the narrow format being made available because of Putin’s speech delivered at it, which was directed well beyond the CSTO. Before we read the speech transcript, I want to mention and suggest this excellent reminder from the past by Marat Khairullen, “The Yeonpyeongdo Stage, "Oreshnik," and the North Korean factor” that was published today at his substack along with another short essay, “NATO wants a punch in the face. They're running into trouble again...”, that must be considered along with my essay about the need for NATO to Capitulate. Indeed, at this juncture, we need to amass as much information, past and present, as we can to make sense of what might happen in the near future. I’ll follow Putin’s narrow format speech with the presser he held afterwards in a separate article since both are somewhat long:

Vladimir Putin: Dear Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich, Dear friends!

First of all, I would like to thank the President of Kazakhstan and all our Kazakh friends for preparing today's meeting and for the active work that the Kazakh presidency has carried out this year with the support of teams from all our countries.

As our colleagues have already rightly pointed out, cooperation between our States within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization is really important. This cooperation is allied in nature and is built on the principles of friendship, good neighborliness, and respect for each other's interests.

We have a military-political organization, and some colleagues asked me to report in more detail on how the situation is developing in the conflict zone in Ukraine, in the area of a special military operation, in the light of recent events. I always did this at our meetings. Of course, understanding the importance of the current events, I will be happy to do so today. I consider it my duty to inform you about the latest developments.

As you know, officials of Western countries in early November announced permission for the armed forces of Ukraine to strike at the territory of the Russian Federation with high-precision long-range weapons of Western production. We have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that this will mean the direct involvement of these countries in an armed conflict, since the use of these weapons without the direct participation of military personnel and military specialists of the relevant NATO countries is simply impossible. As you know, despite our warnings about the danger of an escalation of the conflict, strikes on our territory were nevertheless carried out on the Bryansk and Kursk regions by American ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles. The consequences of these attacks and the damage caused to us were discussed in my statement on November 21.

For reference, by the way, I will say that some colleagues also asked about this, that the Russian equivalent of all three ATACMS modifications is the missile system, the Russian Iskander missile system and its various modifications. The mass of the warhead in TNT equivalent is approximately the same, the range of the Iskander is more. The new American PrSM missile does not exceed its Russian counterparts in any way in terms of parameters.

The Storm Shadow air-launched missile, the French SCALP and the German Taurus have a warhead of about 450-480 kilograms in TNT equivalent, and a range of 500-650 kilometers. 650 is just the German Taurus rocket.

The Russian equivalent of these systems is the Kh-101 air-launched missile. It has a warhead comparable in power but significantly exceeds each of the European-made systems in range. The new American PrSM missiles, as I have already said, and JASSM are inferior in their characteristics to their Russian counterparts.

We know, of course, how many relevant weapons systems are in service with a potential enemy, how many are in warehouses, where they are specifically located, how many weapons have been delivered to Ukraine and how many are planned to be delivered.

As for the production of the corresponding missile systems and equipment, in Russia it is ten times more than the total production of all NATO countries combined. And next year, this production will be increased by another 25-30 percent.

We see that the leaders of the Kiev regime are begging for other military equipment from their masters. At the same time, let no one forget about the Kalibr complexes, the Kinzhal and Zircon hypersonic missile systems, which have no analogues in the world in terms of their characteristics. Their production is also increasing and is in full swing.

In our menu of this class of products, so to speak, other products may appear in the near future. As they say in such cases, the client will certainly be satisfied.

By the way, it is these weapons systems that we have used over the past two days in response to the continuation of attacks by ATACMS missiles on the territory of Russia. In total, 100 systems were used, 100 missiles of various classes, which I just mentioned, and 466 attack drones.

Last night, we launched a comprehensive strike using 90 missiles of similar classes and 100 drones. 17 targets were hit. These are military facilities, objects of the defense industry and their support systems. I will repeat once again: these strikes from our side also took place in response to the incessant attacks on Russian territory by American ATACMS missiles. As I have said many times, there will always be an answer from our side.

And finally, the latest hypersonic strike system "Oreshnik" in non-nuclear design. We were forced to test it in combat conditions-we were forced, as I have already said, in response to the attacks of Western weapons on the territory of the Bryansk and Kursk regions with ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles.

Of course, there are no analogues of "Hazel" in the world. And, I think, such analogs will not appear soon. Let me remind you again how "Hazel" works, as you asked.

Dozens of warheads, homing blocks, attack the target at a speed of Mach 10, which is about three kilometers per second. The temperature of the striking elements reaches 4000 degrees. If my memory serves me correctly, the temperature on the surface of the sun is 5.5-6 thousand degrees. Therefore, everything that is in the epicenter of the explosion is divided into fractions, into elementary particles, and turns, in fact, into dust. The missile strikes even highly protected and deep-lying objects.

According to military and technical experts, in the case of a massive, group use of these missiles, that is, several "nuts" at once, a bunch in one strike, its power, the power of this strike, will be comparable to the use of nuclear weapons. Although the Hazel Tree is not a weapon of mass destruction, of course. First, because – and this was confirmed by the test on November 21-these weapons are highly accurate, and secondly, and most importantly, there is no nuclear charge, and therefore no nuclear contamination after its use.

Today we have several ready-to-use products of this kind. And of course, as already mentioned, we will respond to the ongoing strikes on Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles, including the possible continuation of the Oreshnik test in combat conditions, as it was done on November 21.

Currently, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Russian Army are selecting targets for destruction on the territory of Ukraine. These can be military installations, defense industry enterprises, or decision-making centers in Kiev. Moreover, the Kiev regime has repeatedly tried to strike targets of national importance in Russia: across St. Petersburg and Moscow. And these attempts continue.

Serial production of "Hazel" began. But in the end, the means of destruction will be chosen by us depending on the nature of the targets chosen for destruction and the threats created for the Russian Federation.

Dear colleagues!

All that I have just said, all that I have just reported to you, is certainly of great importance. But the most important thing is that even with the most modern weapons, the fate of any military conflict, any military campaign, including a special military operation, is decided "on the ground", on the battlefield. In the end, it all depends on the soldier. Of course, to win, you need both equipment, a battle plan, and a combat kit. But the most important thing is motivation, the inner readiness of a person to fight, and if necessary-to sacrifice himself in the name of the Fatherland.

Why, for example, should forcibly mobilized Ukrainian servicemen and officers give their lives today? For the Bandera neo-Nazi regime that has settled in Kiev? For its leaders, who have already lost their legitimacy? After all, they did not go to the polls. They are completely illegitimate today. And from a legal point of view, they do not even have the right to give orders to the armed forces, since they are usurpers of power.

By the way, those who execute these orders also become accomplices in crimes of this kind, these crimes. They have no right to push people to death and drive them to slaughter. Moreover, as I have already said, these orders are criminal.

Our fighters, on the contrary, perfectly understand what they are fighting for, what they are shedding blood for. They see that it fell to them, and perhaps to our generation as a whole, as it happened more than once in our history, to stand in the way of those forces that once again decided to destroy Russia, to inflict on it, as they say today, a strategic defeat.

Therefore, our guys are fighting for their homeland, for the future of Russia and their children. Therefore, no amount of supplies, even the most modern weapons, to the Ukrainian territory will change the situation on the battlefield.

We have people of different nationalities in the army, some will make the sign of the cross, others will ask for the help of Allah. But everyone will go forward together, and nothing will stop them.

I would like to thank my colleagues for drawing your attention, and in this context it is very important that we remember the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, the anniversary, the eightieth anniversary of this Victory.

Of course, in all our countries this event will be held at the highest state level. I hope that you will find an opportunity to come to these solemn events in Moscow, to the solemn events of May 9. In addition, we invite military units of the CSTO countries, together with the Russian military, to take part in the parade on Red Square.

In conclusion, I would like to once again thank Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and all our Kazakh friends for the effective work carried out during the CSTO presidency and also wish success to our Kyrgyz colleagues who are taking over the chairmanship of the Organization. And of course, we will do everything that depends on us to provide you, dear Sadyr Nurgozhoyevich, with comprehensive assistance and support.

Thank you for your attention. [My Emphasis]

IMO, it’s important to understand the basic differences in relations with the CSTO and CIS with the USSR, of which all were once members. The key phrase uttered by Putin I highlighted at the beginning of his speech is “respect for each other's interests,” which wasn’t the case in Soviet days and became a liability at the crucial moment in 1990 along with the SSR constitutional relationship that allowed for secession. What was shared during WW2 had been forgotten by leaders and many people. As you read, Putin wants to make certain that doesn’t ever happen again. Many readers will have learned about the recent Russian response attacks, which some sources are trying to spin as not being any sort of response. Given the outcomes, I for one beg to differ—although likely already planned, they were indeed responses.

Putin’s description of how Hazel worked without any munitions and the other information he shared about Russian missile inventories was certainly aimed at NATO to make certain they understood their predicament of being outgunned and all else as you’ll find from Marat’s essays. The Hazel’s projectiles hitting at a 4000 degree C temperature are close to being bolts from the sun. Eventually, we’ll see photos of what that sort of impact looks like, but I’m not holding my breath. One last point is Shoigu after the meetings said to the media that “Russia’s allies are under ‘nuclear umbrella,’” which RT went on to say:

The secretary of the Russian National Security Council has advised Western countries to study Russia’s new nuclear doctrine with care, highlighting that it provides for the use of Moscow’s arsenal to defend its Eurasian allies. [My Emphasis]

Think for a moment who and how many are those allies, and that NATO/Outlaw US Empire aren’t the only ones that might attempt to use nukes in their desperation.

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