Ex-Soviet Republics to Boost Cooperation
By BAGILA BUKHARBAYEVA

The Associated Press
06/18/04 17:16 EDT

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders
of several former Soviet republics agreed Friday to step up economic
ties and expand military cooperation, restoring some of the links
severed by the Soviet collapse.

Russia has been seeking closer military and security ties with several
Central Asian nations, apparently in response to the deployment of
U.S. troops in the region to back Washington’s anti-terror campaign
in neighboring Afghanistan.

“We are creating real instruments of integration. It’s not just talk,”
Putin said after summits of the Russia-dominated Collective Security
Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic Community.

Putin and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan discussed regional security and agreed to intensify
military contacts, increasing the Collective Security Treaty’s rapid
reaction forces, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

The alliance now has nine battalions based in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan,
Kazakhstan and Russia and plans by 2010 to form a mobile force intended
to quickly respond to security threats to its members.

Nazarbayev said they also agreed on a mechanism for participation in
international U.N.-led peacekeeping efforts. He said it was “a new
area of cooperation,” but did not give details.

Last year, Russia opened a military base in Kyrgyzstan under
the Collective Security Treaty to provide air support for future
anti-terrorist operations.

The leaders of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
also signed agreements on adopting unified laws, circulation
of securities and regulating banking activity among the Eurasian
Economic Community.

The group was created in 2000 to restore lost economic ties after
the 1991 Soviet collapse. Members plan to form a customs union by
2006 and are working on creating unified transport and energy systems.

The countries also agreed Friday to set unified railway tariffs
on transportation of grain and other goods through one another’s
territory.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Russia provided
information on its negotiations to enter the World Trade Organization,
breaking its silence on the issue – which would aid other countries
in their talks to enter the trade body.

Kyrgyzstan is already a member of the WTO, which regulates
international trade rules. Russia has sought WTO membership for years.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress