MOSCOW, June 14 (RIA Novosti) - Foreign ministers from member states of the CSTO, a post-Soviet security bloc, prepared at their meeting on Sunday documents for creating a joint rapid-reaction force.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization comprising Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, is currently holding its summit in Moscow, which includes a meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers.
"The main result of today's session of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers was the fulfillment of instructions from the February CSTO summit on the creation of a rapid-reaction force. The package of documents is ready. They include an agreement on the rapid-reaction force, and documents regulating the deployment and the strength of the collective forces," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Russia already has joint military contingents with Belarus and Armenia through the CSTO.
The new force will comprise large military units from five countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Analysts say the creation of a powerful military contingent in Central Asia reflects Moscow's drive to make the CSTO a pro-Russian military bloc, rivaling NATO forces in Europe.
Russia's security strategy until 2020, recently approved by President Dmitry Medvedev, envisions the CSTO as "a key mechanism to counter regional military challenges and threats."
The rapid-reaction force will include an airborne division and an air assault brigade from Russia, and an air assault brigade from Kazakhstan. The other members will contribute a battalion-size force each, although Uzbekistan would "delegate" its detachments to take part in operations on an ad hoc basis.
