MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. The international military-technical forum Army-2023 will contribute to the creation of a safe and peaceful future, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said at the opening of the forum at the Patriot congress and exhibition center near Moscow.

"I am confident that the international military-technical forum will promote interstate military and military-technical cooperation, become a starting point for the development of existing business contacts and the creation of new ones, as well as contribute to building a safe and peaceful future," Khrenin said.

He emphasized that "in the conditions of global instability and unprecedented pressure of the collective West on states pursuing their own sovereign and independent policies, the Army Forum has become a symbol of the establishment and development of strategic partnership."

"This large-scale international event makes it possible to jointly find ways of addressing the most important issues in the field of ensuring national, regional and global security, taking into account the interests of all participants in international relations," he stated.

"One of the brightest examples of such joint work is the strengthening of the defense capabilities of the Union State, which has become a result of mutually beneficial cooperation and strengthening of integration processes between the Belarusian and Russian defense-industrial complexes," said Khrenin.

He sees the forum as "a unique opportunity for a constructive discussion of professional issues, exchanges of experience, and review of the latest achievements in the introduction of advanced know-how in the production and upgrading of weapons and military and special equipment. He noted that the forum had attracted a wide range of products from Belarusian enterprises.

Meetings and agreements

During the forum, the chairman of the State Military-Industrial Committee of Belarus, Dmitry Pantus, met with the CEO of the Almaz-Antey air and space defense concern Yan Novikov. "The parties discussed the current state of and prospects for further cooperation. As part of the meeting, [representatives from the Belarusian] KB Radar OJSC and 2566 Radio-Electronic Weapons Repair Plant OJSC signed a number of agreements with the Russian enterprise," the State Military-Industrial Committee said.

Pantus held talks with Major-General Fan Jianjun, the head of the Equipment and Technology Cooperation Department of the Equipment Development Department, the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China.

"During the meeting, the parties discussed current projects, outlined promising areas of cooperation, as well as noted mutual interest in further development of cooperation in a wide range of areas," the State Military-Industrial Committee of Belarus has said.

The Army 2023 international military-technical forum is running at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center, the Alabino training ground and the Kubinka airfield west of Moscow on August 14-20. About 1,500 leading Russian defense enterprises and 85 foreign companies and businesses from seven countries are participating. The Russian Defense Ministry is the forum’s organizer and TASS is its media partner.