All CSTO members, except Uzbekistan, have agreed to take part in military drills of Collective Rapid Reaction Forces in Armenia on September 3-8, News Armenia cites CSTO Deputy Secretary General Valery Semerikov as saying in Yerevan on Friday.
The official said that all preparation is held according to schedule. The Armenian Defense Ministry keeps the process under strict control.
Semerikov noted that the CSTO Council of Defense Minister and the Committee of Secretaries of National Security Councils will get full information on the drills in Kazakhstan in May.
The topic of training this year is collective regional security of Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CRRF) in the Caucasus Region. The CSTO Joint Staff and officials of Defense Ministries, CRRF commanders will coordinate the process.
The CRRF is used to counter military aggression, carry out special operations to combat terrorism, transnational organized crime, drug trafficking and coping with emergency situations. The forces consist of a group with permanent combat readiness. The RCCF has about 20,000 troops, half of which are Russians.
The CSTO consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
