MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Despite the West’s attempts to isolate Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry continues boosting rates of cooperation with foreign military agencies, General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, First Deputy Defense Minister, said.

"Despite the West’s attempts to isolate our country on the international arena, the Russian Defense Ministry continued boosting rates of interaction with foreign military agencies within military and military-technical cooperation, with more than 600 major events implemented this year," he told a news briefing for foreign military attaches on the results of the Russian Defense Ministry's activities in 2023.

Special emphasis was placed on strengthening reliable and mutually beneficial bilateral relations within the framework of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, CSTO, CIS, as well as with friendly countries in the Asian-Pacific region, Africa, Middle East and Latin America, Gerasimov added.