Kazakhstan and Russia sign agreement on common regional air defense system

Kazakhstan and Russia signed an agreement on a common regional air defense system, Tengrinews.kz reports. “Russian Defense Minister rendered a visit to our country for the first time. We discussed important issues and signed document to create a common air defense system. In our view, this will increase the level of cooperation and create conditions for enhancement of the defense potential of our countries,” Defense Minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov said after the meeting with his Russian counterpart in Astana. According to Russian Defense Minister, the parties talked about further ways to improve the agreement, expand its framework and “add new elements that also include the anti-ballistic missile defense”. Sergey Shoigu also noted that both parties had been preparing the document for signing for over 6 years. “Our cooperation volume is great and covers all areas: CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization), exploitation of sites and space research. The agreement that has just been signed is related to air defense system. We have also talked about further ways for improvement and expansion of this agreement. It took a long time to prepare it -- over 6 years. It involves joining our information spaces, their integration and introduction of additional elements. It (the agreement) will help increase security of our countries,” Shoigu said. By Baubek Konyrov