Joint Collegium of Belarusian and Russian Defence Ministries

On 29 October, Russian Defence Minister Army Gen. Sergei Shoigu arrived on a visit to Minsk, where he had a meeting with Belarusian Defence Minister Lt. Gen. Yuri Zhadobin.

The two defence ministers took part in a regular session of the Joint Collegium of the Belarusian and Russian defence ministries.

The participants of the session discussed the implementation of the 2013-2015 joint action plan to ensure military security of the Belarus-Russia Union State and the agreement between Belarus and Russia on cooperation in electronic warfare.

One of the key points on the agenda was the preparation for the Belarus-Russia military exercise Union Shield 2015.

In addition, the collegium’s members presented the information on the implementation of the agreement between Belarus and Russia on joint protection of the Union’s external air border and establishment of the Belarus-Russia United Regional Air Defence System. The collegium also discussed joint activities in NBC protection, the development of the Regulation on the Joint Consultative Group on Arms Control, as well as conduct of joint inspections under the Vienna Document and the Open Skies Treaty.

Agreed decisions were made on all issues on the collegium’s agenda.

Following the meeting, the parties signed the agreement on military postal and courier communication and the agreement on cooperation in evaluation of NBC environment, as well as approved the action plan for cooperation between the defence ministries for 2015.

The session of the Joint Collegium was held in a mutual understanding atmosphere.

The two defence ministers expressed their confidence that implementation of the decisions taken would boost military cooperation between Belarus and Russia to a new level.