Baku meeting of chiefs of staff of the CIS held in the truncated version

On Monday in Baku opened a two-day meeting of the Committee of the Chiefs of General Staff of the CIS countries . This is the first meeting of the heads of Staff in Baku. Earlier, in 2001 and 2006 meetings of the Council of Defense Ministers of CIS were held in Baku.

According to Interfax, citing Secretary of Defense Ministers (CDM ) of the CIS, Lieutenant-General Alexander Sinaisky, at a meeting in Baku it is planned to approve the concept of partnership over five years.

The meeting will be chaired by the First Deputy Minister of Defence - Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Valery Gerasimov , who is chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the CIS.

Sinaisky said that great attention will be paid by members of the committee to practical response to the new challenges and threats, and to improving cooperation in the defense sector .

 " Now the Council of CIS Defense Ministers is not a political-military, alliance but a regional organization , whose main objective is to strengthen partnerships in the interests of good neighborliness and partnership," said Sinaisky.

* The Committee of Chiefs of Staff of the CIS was formed March 27, 1996 to coordinate the activities of the General Staffs of the CIS on topical issues of military cooperation. General management of the Committee is provided by the Council of CIS Defense Ministers .

The previous meeting of the CIS Armed Forces Chiefs of Staff was held in Astana on April 5.

The Baku meeting will be held without the participation of Ukraine and Armenia. Ukraine suspended its chairmanship in the CIS in connection with the aggression of Russia and is considering leaving the organization.

Armenia does not participate in the meeting , as it has not received confirmation from Baku to receive the Armenian delegation. The press secretary of the Armenian Defense Ministry confirmed that the Armenian delegation does not participate in the meeting.

Thus, the meeting is attended by five countries : Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan .

A Russian expert on the Middle East and the Caucasus, Stanislav Tarasov says Moscow's concern is intensified by the military cooperation of Azerbaijan and Turkey , as a NATO member . This theme , according to Tarasov, could be the subject of negotiations of Gerasimov with the Azerbaijani side and Russia can use the Karabakh card to make Baku refuse such cooperation with NATO.

Baku sources report that negotiations of General Gerasimov are expected not only with military but also political leadership of Azerbaijan. However, President Ilham Aliyev will not meet with the Chiefs of Staff, as he is on a two-day visit to Nakhchivan to inspect readiness of the army stationed there. -0 -