Moscow says regional security drills to go ahead as planned

MOSCOW, August 21 (RIA Novosti) – A joint exercise by member states of
a post-Soviet regional security grouping will go ahead as planned, the
head of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) said on
Friday.
Nikolai Bordyuzha said the first stage of what is officially billed as
an integrated exercise to rehearse "the employment of collective rapid
reaction forces to ensure collective security" will start on August 26
at CSTO headquarters in Moscow.
He dismissed media reports saying that the drills "are being disrupted
by Minsk."
Belarus refused to sign an agreement on the creation of a collective
rapid reaction force under the CSTO auspices at a summit in Moscow on
June 14 over trade disagreements with Russia. Uzbekistan also opted
out.
"The second stage will be held in the second half of September in
Belarus, and the third in October in Kazakhstan," he said.
The CSTO comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.