The 77th meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States was held in Baku today.
The event is attended by Russian defense minister Sergey Shoygu, Belarus defense minister Andrei Ravkov, Kazakh defense minister Nurlan Yermekbayev, Uzbek defense minister Bakhodir Kurbanov, Tajik defense minister Mirzo Sherali, chief of the General Staff of the Kyrgyz Armed Forces Rayimberdi Duishenbiev. Armenia refused to attend the Baku summit.
Before the meeting, the ministers visited the Alley of Martyrs to pay tribute to the memory of heroic sons of the Motherland who sacrificed their lives in the struggle for independence and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame monument.
At the meeting, a range of issues of multilateral interaction of the CIS member states in the military sphere was considered. Key attention at the meeting was given to the Concept of Military Cooperation of the CIS Member States until 2025. The issues of training officers for the armed forces of the CIS member states, on joint activities for the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and other important areas in the field of military cooperation were also considered.
Opening the meeting, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu thanked the leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan for "an invitation to hold a meeting in the hospitable land of Azerbaijan, in the city of Baku," the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza reports.
Chairman and Executive Secretary of the CIS Executive Committee Sergey Lebedev also thanked Azerbaijan. He said that certain countries violating the agreements in the field of strategic security by force continue the policy of dictatorship in international relations.
According to Lebedev, in order to ensure common including national security, special attention is paid in the CIS member states to coordination of steps and cooperation with relevant bodies.
He emphasized that this area of integration continues to remain one of the important factors for maintaining the security of the participating countries, including the CIS itself.
"It is deplorable that since our last meeting in Anapa city, the situation in the world hasn’t changed for the better. There is still high conflict potential in international relations, and attempts to deploy weapons in outer space continue. The deployment of NATO military infrastructure and increased activity on the western borders of the CIS are of particular concern," the chairman of the CIS Executive Committee stressed.
He emphasized that the principled position to strengthen cooperation in security sphere was once again reaffirmed at a meeting of CIS heads of state October 11 in Ashgabat city and at a meeting of CIS heads of government October 25 in Moscow.
Levedev said that the practical activities of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers contribute to the development of multilateral military cooperation.
“Each meeting of the defense ministers shows the presence of common interests of the CIS countries in the field of expanding military cooperation. The inclusion of more than 20 issues on the agenda of today’s meeting is an example of this," the chairman and executive secretary of the CIS Executive Committee noted.
