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| http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4328088&c=ASI&s=TOP 'Russian NATO' Holds 1st Exercise By MATT SIEGEL, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 16 Oct 2009 08:00 MATYBULAK, Kazakhstan - The presidents of five ex-Soviet states viewed military drills by thousands of troops in Kazakhstan as the Russian-led security grouping unveiled its new rapid reaction force Oct. 16. Moscow hopes the new forces will lend teeth to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a loose seven-nation grouping it has touted as a counterweight to the NATO alliance but which is plagued by internal tensions. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - all in matching army fatigues - sat sheltered from the early morning cold, watching the maneuvers through binoculars. But the leaders of Belarus and Uzbekistan declined to attend, with Minsk represented by its defense minister, a Kazakh foreign ministry spokesman said. More than 7,000 troops and 90 aircraft took part in the exercises at the Matybulak training grounds, an arid mountain valley about three hours from Almaty near the Kyrgyz border. (...) |