New Russia-dominated NATO-style rapid-reaction force kicks off first military exercises

October 2nd, 2009 Post-Soviet rapid reaction force starts exerciseALMATY, Kazakhstan — Thousands of troops from Russia and four other ex-Soviet nations are staging exercises as part of a newly formed NATO-style rapid-reaction force. It's the first such drills for the Collective Security Treaty Organization's new miltary unit.

September 30th, 2009 Russia, Belarus hold joint military exercisesMINSK, Belarus — Russia and Belarus on Tuesday completed two days of massive joint military exercises on bases that are close to borders with NATO members. Officials said about 12,500 servicemen took part in the West-2009 exercises, roughly half from each country, in Russia's westernmost Kaliningrad region, which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania, and in southern Belarus about 75 miles (125 kilometers) from the Polish border.

September 30th, 2009 Russia ready for restoration of ties with NATOMOSCOW — Russia is ready to fully restore cooperation with NATO which was suspended in the aftermath of the Russia-Georgia war, the Kremlin said Wednesday. A planned trip to Moscow by NATO's secretary-general should demonstrate that the alliance is also ready for developing ties, said Nataliya Timakova, a spokeswoman for President Dmitry Medvedev.

June 14th, 2009 Belarus boycotts summit in Russia disputeMOSCOW — Two former Soviet republics refused to sign onto a deal Sunday to create a NATO-style rapid-reaction force for a Moscow-dominated security alliance, undermining a Kremlin bid to bolster its power and prestige amid a struggle with the West for regional clout. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko angrily boycotted the Moscow summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization amid a politically charged trade dispute with longtime ally Russia.

May 31st, 2009 NATO, partners wrap up Georgia military trainingVAZIANI, Georgia — Georgian and Ukrainian troops neutralized simulated suicide bombers and a mock mob on a wind-swept hilltop military base near the Georgian capital Sunday as part of monthlong military exercises that have angered Russia. NATO is training soldiers from the two Westward-leaning former Soviet states, along with two other aspiring NATO members, at the Vaziani military base not far from the separatist South Ossetia province, where war between Russia and Georgia erupted nine months ago.

May 6th, 2009 Report: Russia to expel Canadians in NATO responseMOSCOW — Russia will expel two Canadian diplomats in retaliation for NATO's recent expulsion of two Russian envoys from the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, a Russian news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying Wednesday. The director of the NATO Information Office in Moscow, Isabelle Francois, and a colleague were likely to be expelled, Interfax reported.

May 5th, 2009 Lavrov pulls out of Russia-NATO meetingMOSCOW — Russia's foreign minister has pulled out of a NATO-Russia Council meeting planned for Brussels this month to protest the alliance's upcoming military exercises in Georgia and the expulsion of two Russian diplomats from its headquarters, a senior diplomat said Tuesday. Sergey Lavrov's decision to withdraw from the May 19 meeting was based on concerns about the exercises that start Wednesday and over the expulsions last week, which were in apparent retaliation for a spy case dating back to February, Russia's NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin said in televised comments.

May 5th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia is to expel the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's information office from Moscow, a report said Tuesday, in a sign of a continued deterioration of the country's relations with the Western military alliance. Diplomat Isabelle Francois and a NATO colleague are expected to be told formally to leave Russia Wednesday morning, the Interfax news agency said, citing a source in the Russian foreign ministry.

April 30th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia Thursday said NATO's planned military exercises in Georgia next month are an 'open provocation' and warned of negative consequences. 'NATO's plans to hold exercises in Georgia...

April 30th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia Thursday said NATO's planned military exercises in Georgia next month are an 'open provocation' and warned of negative consequences. 'NATO's plans to hold exercises in Georgia...

April 29th, 2009 NATO resumes formal contacts with RussiaBRUSSELS — NATO and Russia resumed formal contacts Wednesday, eight months after they were suspended because of last year's war with Georgia, officials said. The talks were held within the framework of the NATO-Russia Council, a panel set up in 2002 to improve relations between the former Cold War foes.

April 20th, 2009 More planes for Russian base in KyrgyzstanBISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — The head of a Russian-dominated military alliance says more planes will be stationed at a base in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan. Collective Security Treaty Organization secretary general Nikolai Bordyuzha gave no figures Monday on the planned increase at the Kant air base.

April 19th, 2009 VORONEZH - Russia's envoy to NATO has dubbed the alliance's exercises due in Georgia in early May 'insanity'. The Cooperative Longbow 09/Cooperative Lancer 09 command-and-staff exercise, led by the Western military bloc, will be held from May 6 to June 1 in Georgia, and will not feature light or heavy weaponry.

April 17th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday that NATO's decision to hold military exercises in Georgia next month threatens to complicate ties with Russia. The military exercises will be held from May 6 to June 1, and will not include light or heavy weaponry.

April 16th, 2009 YEREVAN - Russia Thursday criticised NATO's planned military exercise in Georgia, saying it could give the Georgian regime a sense of impunity and raise tensions in the Caucasus region. 'I hope that NATO countries, in planning future interaction with Georgia within the partnership for peace programme, will avoid steps that could nudge the Georgian regime into a feeling of permissiveness and impunity,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.