CIS defence ministers to discuss how to improve joint air defence system
Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson Irina Kovalchuk told Itar-Tass, "The meeting will be chaired by Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov".
The defence ministers will adopt a joint statement in connection with the upcoming 20th anniversary of their Council to be marked in February 2012, and will review the performance of the Council's working bodies in 2011 and their plans for 2012.
"Judging from long-term approaches to the development of military cooperation, the Council of the CIS Defence Ministers will pay special attention to the creation and improvement of [joint] military systems, specifically the development and composition of the joint radiation, chemical and biological monitoring and assessment system and the joint air defence system in the CIS," Kovalchuk said.
The previous 60th meeting of the Council took place in Sochi, Russia, on July 6, 2011. Serdyukov said at the meeting that "the defence ministries of the CIS countries solve similar tasks, the main of which is modernisation of the national armed forces."
"Our states bear responsibility for peace and stability in the CIS. The level of mutually advantageous strategic partnership among its member states is critical to the security and economic development of the CIS as a whole," the minister said.
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