CIS states study possibility of joining efforts on air defense

CIS states study possibility of joining efforts on air defense

Associated Press Worldstream
May 21, 2004 Friday

YEREVAN, Armenia — Twelve former Soviet republics are studying the
possibility of creating a united system of air defense to protect
the region, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Friday.

“This is a vital system, and it has proved so in exercises held
recently,” Ivanov said in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, which hosted
a meeting of defense ministers from the Commonwealth of Independent
States.

He gave no further details.

The CIS, comprised of 12 former Soviet republics, was set up after
the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union to encourage cooperation between
the countries. However, those efforts have largely been hamstrung by
regional squabbles and fears of Russian domination.

Ivanov said that the ministers also discussed ways to expand military
technological cooperation and upcoming military exercises. In August,
the CIS militaries are planning exercises in the Central Asian nations
of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Ivanov said.