POLITICS
CIS COUNCIL OF DEFENSE MINISTERS ASSEMBLED IN MOSCOW
The agenda included 20 issues. The defense ministers approved the joint plan of actions on the united air defense system for 2004, also focused the issues of implementation of the concept of single climate database, exchange of climate database among the regional hydrometeorology services and others.
In his remarks, the Russian defense minister Sergey Ivanov stressed the efficiency of cooperation of the Commonwealth states in the military sphere, stating that the future of CIS depends on implementation of the agreements reached among the CIS member countries. At his opinion, there is a necessity to fully use the existing mechanisms of co-op both on the multi-faceted and bilateral grounds, and this would enable to preserve the common defense space.
On the same day, President of the Russian federation Vladimir Putin met with the defense ministers. He stated that military-technical cooperation within the Commonwealth is the important factor of mutual activity in the post-soviet space and in the last 10 years, cooperation in the frame of CIS is successfully developing on equal grounds. He stressed that he adheres closer cooperation of the Commonwealth in the field of air defense system. “The Commonwealth states should prepare a concept on military cooperation for the period until 2010”, head of the Russian state emphasized.