Dushanbe hosts session of CIS armed forces' chiefs-of-staff

DUSHANBE, April 13 (Itar-Tass) - One of the key topics on the agenda
of a session of the chiefs-of-staff of the CIS armed forces, held in the
Tajik capital Dushanbe on Wednesday, was raising the combat effectiveness
and preparedness of troops in view of the current situation in the world,
the secretary of the Defense Ministers Council of the CIS countries,
Lieutenant-General Alexander Sinaisky, told reporters after the session.
"We have discussed multilateral interaction by CIS armed forces, paid
special attention to the practical component of military cooperation and
considered a number of issues of creating and upgrading joint military
systems," the general said.
Sinaisky said participants in the session had approved a plan for
improving the materiel of the CIS armed forces and adopted a draft
agreement on cooperation in training military personnel. He said, "the
decisions made at the session are directed at the development of
multilateral cooperation in the format of interaction with regard for
general, regional and national interests."
He said, "all our efforts are directed at creating modern armed forces
able to repulse external threats and protect the sovereignty of CIS
countries."
The Committee of the CIS Chiefs of Staff is a working body of the CIS
Defense Ministers. It was established in November 1992 and functions on
the temporary basis. Georgia, Moldova and Turkmenistan do not take part in
the Committee's sessions. Representatives from Uzbekistan were absent from
today's meeting, too.
The Russian delegation was headed by the Chief of the General Staff,
First Deputy Defense Minister General of the Army Nikolai Makarov.