MOSCOW, August 10. /TASS/. More than 260 teams from 35 countries will take part in the International Army Games, to be held in twelve states on August 13-27, Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister, General of the Army Pavel Popov, told a news briefing for foreign military attaches on Wednesday.

"This year, the Games are to be hosted by 12 states: Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, Vietnam, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, Russia and Uzbekistan. For the first time, the Sniper Frontier competition will be held in South America - in Venezuela, which is the twelfth host country. More than 260 teams from 35 countries, numbering 6,500 contestants have applied for participation. These countries account for 4 billion of the world's population," Popov said.

The teams from Bolivia and Rwanda will become the new-comers to the Army Games this year.

"The International Army Games will become an excellent platform for presenting the capabilities of weapons and military equipment. Despite unprecedented attempts by the West to enforce the isolation of Russia and other sovereign states the geographical scope of the Army Games continues to expand: 34 competitions are to be held on the territory of three continents," Popov noted.

He also said that in order to bring peoples closer together and to let them get acquainted with the cultural traditions of the participating countries and popularize the Games thematic events would be held at the Museum of the Army Games, friendship houses and fan clubs. Guests and participants will be able to study the Games’ geography and history of the competitions and attend shows by performing artists, master classes, drawing-lots ceremonies and exhibitions devoted the friendly relations among defense ministries.