CSTO RAPID-REACTION FORCE TO HOLD EXERCISES IN KAZAKHSTAN IN FALL

RIA Novosti
16:38 | 17/ 03/ 2009

MOSCOW, March 17 (RIA Novosti) – The joint rapid-reaction forces of
a post-Soviet regional security bloc will hold military exercises in
September in Kazakhstan, the Russian defense minister said on Tuesday.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which comprises
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and
Tajikistan, agreed in early February to set up the rapid-reaction
force.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said later on Tuesday that the force
should be well-organized and equipped to counter a variety of threats.

"These are units that we should be able to rely on in dealing with the
most difficult problems, including terrorist and military threats,"
he said.

The Russian president also said the CSTO was open for cooperation
with the United States in the fight against terrorism in Central Asia.

The rapid-reaction force, which Medvedev has said "will be just as
good as comparable NATO forces," will be used to repulse military
aggression, conduct anti-terrorist operations, fight transnational
crime and drug trafficking, and neutralize the effects of natural
disasters.

Moscow has stressed that collective forces will not interfere in the
domestic conflicts of the bloc’s member countries.