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Russia, NATO to exchange information on upcoming military exercises at their borders

A meeting of the Russia-NATO Council will be held in the Belgian capital on May 14

BRUSSELS, May 8 (Itar-Tass) - The chiefs of the General Staffs of Russia and NATO will exchange the information on upcoming military exercises at a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council, which will be held in the Belgian capital on May 14. Deputy Chief of the General Staff Colonel-General Alexander Postnikov-Streltsov will represent Russia at the meeting, an official of the Russian Permanent Mission at NATO told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.

“At this meeting it is expected to exchange press briefings on upcoming military exercises of the NATO Response Force named Steadfast Jazz and the Russian military exercises Zapad-2013, which are scheduled for the autumn of this year,” he said.

NATO reported that the military exercises Steadfast Jazz will be held in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland in November and will become the largest NATO combined exercises in the region for the last ten years. Their official goal is “to test the capabilities of the command and the control of the NATO Response Force.” The scenario of the drills envisages a joint response of the allied forces to a mocked foreign invasion in the Baltic States and Poland.

The Russian Defence Ministry noted that the Russian strategic military exercises Zapad-2013 will be held jointly with the Belarusian armed forces this autumn. The military exercises are expected to hold in two stages at the fire ranges of both countries. The servicemen will drill the issues to ensure the security of the Union State. The planning of the actions of the regional group of troops will also be practiced. The military exercises will involve the Collective Rapid Response Forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. For the coordination of their actions Belarus will form the Command of the Collective Rapid Response Forces. As for its scale the military exercises will correspond to the strategic command staff exercises Kavkaz-2012, as well as the military exercises Tsentr-2011, Vostok-2010 and Zapad-2009.

Russia also does not name a potential rival at these military exercises.

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