Post-Soviet rapid reaction force starts exercise
Thousands of troops from Russia and four other
ex-Soviet nations are staging exercises as part of a newly formed
NATO-style rapid-reaction force, the AP reported.
It is the first such exercises for the new military unit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the military arm of the CIS.
Kazakh defense officials said that more than 7,000 troops gathered Friday in southern Kazakhstan for two weeks of exercises.
Leaders of CSTO member states signed the documents establishing the forces during a June meeting in Moscow. However, Uzbekistan and Belarus did not join the initiative since Tashkent ``has some doubts`` and Minsk boycotted the summit amid economic disputes with Russia.
Moscow hopes it will bolster the power of the seven-nation CSTO, seen largely as a talking shop established by Russia to counterbalance NATO.
Officials say the exercise will, among other things, train the force in responding to insurgencies in alliance member countries.
President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday that Belarus was ready to sign documents on the CSTO prompt response forces, Russian news agencies reported.
``We have completed all the procedures required to sign the documents,`` said Lukashenko, who did not sign the pacts in June due to a controversial Russian ban on Belarusian dairy products.
``We have always advocated unification processes,`` he told a news conference. ``We can not chop up our own brainchild with an axe, so Belarus is ready to fulfill its obligations in the CSTO in full.``
It is the first such exercises for the new military unit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the military arm of the CIS.
Kazakh defense officials said that more than 7,000 troops gathered Friday in southern Kazakhstan for two weeks of exercises.
Leaders of CSTO member states signed the documents establishing the forces during a June meeting in Moscow. However, Uzbekistan and Belarus did not join the initiative since Tashkent ``has some doubts`` and Minsk boycotted the summit amid economic disputes with Russia.
Moscow hopes it will bolster the power of the seven-nation CSTO, seen largely as a talking shop established by Russia to counterbalance NATO.
Officials say the exercise will, among other things, train the force in responding to insurgencies in alliance member countries.
President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday that Belarus was ready to sign documents on the CSTO prompt response forces, Russian news agencies reported.
``We have completed all the procedures required to sign the documents,`` said Lukashenko, who did not sign the pacts in June due to a controversial Russian ban on Belarusian dairy products.
``We have always advocated unification processes,`` he told a news conference. ``We can not chop up our own brainchild with an axe, so Belarus is ready to fulfill its obligations in the CSTO in full.``
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