Russia

Western Countries Seek to Undermine Integration Processes in CIS, Russian Foreign Ministry Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Western countries seek to undermine the integration processes in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an association of post-Soviet states, Mikhail Yevdokimov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's First CIS Department, said in an interview with Sputnik.
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"The West is clearly seeking to undermine the integration processes in the Commonwealth space. In this situation, it is especially important to adapt the existing security mechanisms in the CIS to modern realities, linking work within the Commonwealth with the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] and the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization]. Such activities are underway," Yevdokimov said.
He emphasized that in these activities, it is important to be flexible and creative, not to be limited to any one format, but to apply the most effective practices of each of them.
Earlier in the day, Yuri Grekhov, deputy commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, stated that a joint military exercise involving control bodies and air defense duty officers of the CIS united air defense system is scheduled for September.

"The next training session is scheduled for September under the leadership of the Chairman of the Coordination Committee on Air Defense under the Council of Defense Ministers of the CIS States in places of permanent deployment," Grekhov said.

He added that this type of training occurs every two years and is one of the most important aspects of operational and combat training.

"The purpose of the drill is to practice the response of the air defense forces to aircraft violating the rules of airspace use, violating the state borders of the CIS member states, hijacked aircraft, as well as providing assistance to the aircraft in distress," he added.

In accordance with the plan for holding joint activities of the CIS unified regional air defense system in 2022, the next meeting of the CIS Air Defense Coordination Committee will be held in August in Kyrgyzstan.
There will also be a number of working meetings on the development of air defense systems in the collective security regions, as well as improvement of the regulatory framework and military-technical cooperation, according to Grekhov.
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