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Kazakh leader says Russia’s missile defense is shield for post-Soviet military bloc states

The Kazakh leader praises Moscow-Astana military cooperation

ASTANA, April 11. /TASS/. Russia’s missile defense system is a shield for the countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organizations (CSTO), Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev said in an interview with the Mir-24 television channel on Tuesday.

"We benefit much. First, it is easier to ensure defense collectively than do it by oneself. This fact is irrefutable. Second, I would be straight - this is a shield, which is ensured, first of all, by Russia’s capabilities of missile defense," he said when asked about his country’s benefits from its membership in the CSTO.

"We have common border troops," he said, adding that during joint exercises the two countries discuss "common threats of drug trafficking, terrorism, external interference into our states under the color revolution scenarios."

The Kazakh leader also said that the two countries cooperate in training military personnel. "In conditions of the collective security treaty, we supply each other with weapons on easy terms. And, of course, Russia’s system of arms manufacture dominates," he added.