RUSSIAN DEFENSE CHIEF: JOINT RUSSIAN-BELARUSIAN MILITARY DRILLS NOT DIRECTED AT ANY NATION

AP Worldstream
Jun 22, 2006

Ongoing military exercises between Russian and Belarusian forces _
the largest exercises ever for the two ex-Soviet republics _ are
not directed toward any nation, alliance or enemy in particular,
Russia’s defense minister said Thursday.

Sergei Ivanov spoke as defense ministers from the six-nation Collective
Security Treaty Organization gathered in the Belarusian capital,
Minsk, on the sixth day of the military drills that feature about
7,000 Belarusian and 1,800 Russian troops.

"This Russian-Belarusian exercise does not have an aggressive nature
and is not directed toward anyone," Ivanov told a news conference.

Ivanov also said Russia and Kazakhstan would stage another military
exercise under the framework of treaty organization later this year.

The exercises envisage a joint response to an unnamed, outside military
threat. Russian MiG-29 fighter jets practiced intercepting enemy
planes over western Belarus over the weekend as part of the drills.

Belarus’ authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko _ dubbed
"Europe’s last dictator" by the United States and other Western nations
for his relentless crackdown on dissent _ has repeatedly accused the
West of harboring aggressive intentions.

Russia, meanwhile, has watched warily as former Soviet bloc countries
bordering Belarus _ Poland, Latvia and Lithuania _ have joined
NATO. Russian military officials have announced plans to set up a
permanent air base in Belarus and deploy air defense missiles there.

Russia and Belarus signed a union agreement in 1996 providing for
close political, economic and military ties, and their armed forces
have held frequent joint drills.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of the other four nations
in the defense and security cooperation pact _ Armenia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan _ will visit Belarus to watch the exercise
on Saturday.