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Russian Defence Minister Briefs Putin On Recent Joint Exercises With

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  • Russian Defence Minister Briefs Putin On Recent Joint Exercises With

    RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER BRIEFS PUTIN ON RECENT JOINT EXERCISES WITH CHINA

    RTR Russia TV, Moscow
    31 Aug 05

    [Presenter] Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov reported to the president
    today on the results of the exercises in August: Russia and CIS
    countries taking part in air defence live firing in Astrakhan Region,
    and the big Russian-Chinese manoeuvres. Both events concerned not
    only practising cooperation between troops but also the possibility
    of creating new systems of regional security.

    [Correspondent] When the minister of defence told the president that
    August was a hot month, he meant of course not the air temperature.
    It is a long time since the ministry held this many exercises. The
    president himself watched over the ships of the Northern Fleet and
    Long-Range Aviation [aircraft] in the Barents Sea. Sergey Ivanov
    assessed the manoeuvres in the Yellow Sea which involved 10,000 men
    together with his Chinese counterpart. Pacific Fleet ships, marines
    and aviation, air assault troops and even Tu-95 missile carriers were
    our contribution to the Russian-Chinese exercise.

    [Ivanov, shown in Putin's office, captioned Bocharov Ruchey] The
    difficulty was that both we and the Chinese had to plan the passes by
    the aircraft very precisely, to the second, and direct all this. It
    was all carried out successfully, and our troops learned some very
    good skills, both in mobility and in using modern types and examples
    of weapons and equipment.

    [Putin] Are there any agreements with our Chinese partners on any
    future measures [words inaudible] of a similar kind?

    [Ivanov] We would like to plan [word indistinct] exercises of this
    kind. It is possible that our partners in the Shanghai Cooperation
    Organization [SCO] could be involved, because all these exercises
    are taking place within the SCO framework.

    [Correspondent] Ivanov said the results of the exercise were still
    to be analyzed in detail, but the first results were definitely
    positive. He gave roughly the same assessment to Combat Commonwealth
    2005, a CIS air defence troops exercise at the Ashuluk range in
    Astrakhan Region. Armenian, Tajik, Belarusian and Russian servicemen
    carried out successful launches. This was the sixth such exercise,
    but in some respects it was the first.

    [Ivanov] For the first time we succeeded in setting up a joint
    command post, not one for each nation, but joint. Which in fact is
    the prototype for setting up a regional air defence system within
    the framework of the CIS. It could be eastern European, if it is in
    Belarus, or it could be Caucasian if it is in Armenia, or it could
    be Central Asian, naturally with our partners in the Collective
    Security Treaty.

    [Correspondent] Of course, Russia is not entirely indifferent to
    precisely who will be taking part in the next exercise. Tomorrow,
    800 foreign citizens, mainly from the CIS, will become students at
    Russian military higher education institutions. But Putin recalled
    that under Russian legislation foreigners cannot be on military duty
    or stand guard like Russian citizens.

    [Ivanov] We have allowed it. I don't think anything terrible will
    happen.

    [Putin] I don't think so either, but we do have to observe the law,
    so we will have to give this some thought and ask the [Duma] deputies.

    [Correspondent] Ivanov promised that the autumn would also be hot for
    the military. Russian soldiers are expected in September at an Uzbek
    mountain [exercise] range, and in October in India. Ivanov emphasized
    that the joint exercises are not directed against third countries,
    because the principles of Russian geopolitics were stated long ago:
    fighting international terrorism, and defence of Russia's own borders
    and interests.
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