Kazakhstan Ratifies Joint Air Defense Shield Deal with Russia

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan hold large-scale Air Force and Air
Defense exercise (Archive)

© RIA Novosti. Valeriy Melnikov
10:50 15/05/2014

ASTANA, May 15 (RIA Novosti) ` Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament
ratified Thursday an agreement with Russia on establishing a joint
regional air defense shield, a Novosti-Kazakhstan correspondent has
reported.

The shield will become part of the unified air defense system of the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose alliance of former
Soviet states, comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

`The forces of the unified regional air defense system of Kazakhstan
and Russia are led by a commander appointed by the Kazakh and Russian
presidents upon the recommendation of defense ministers from both
sides,’ a committee on international affairs, defense and security
said in a report.

The planned shield would be used only in times of war, while in time
of peace the respective agencies together with the commander will
fulfill only routine duties, a report says.

Moscow signed an agreement to set up an integrated regional air
defense network with Kazakhstan last year. Russia has such a network
with Belarus, while a similar deal with Armenia has been in the works
for some time.

From: A. Papazian