ALMATY, May 30. /TASS/. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov considers the improvement of the unified air defense system as one of the main tasks of bilateral cooperation with Kazakhstan, the Defense Ministry said.

"He (Belousov - TASS) listed the improvement of the unified regional air defense system of Russia and Kazakhstan, the exchange of experience on issues of the armed forces, ensuring the functioning of Russian military test ranges on the territory of the country, military-technical cooperation and personnel training as the main directions of bilateral cooperation. The top Russian defense official offered to discuss at the meeting [with his Kazakh counterpart] current issues of the partnership between the two countries in the military sphere and to outline ways of its development," the ministry said in a statement.

According to the Russian defense minister, the situation in the world is extremely complicated and tends to deteriorate, including in the Central Asian region.

"Kazakhstan is Russia's ally and strategic partner. On this basis we are building cooperation in the military sphere, which is the most important, one of the most important factors for maintaining stability in the entire Central Asian region," he said at a working meeting with his Kazakh counterpart Ruslan Jaqsylyqov in Almaty.

The Russian defense minister thanked the Kazakh defense official for the warm welcome and said that he was glad to meet his colleague in person.