Russia, Belarus sign defence agreement

Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev, in Belarus on a one-day visit, signed a military cooperation agreement with his hosts on Friday, Belarusian radio reported.

The radio described the agreement as "a full-scale treaty on military and technical cooperation" between the two countries and said it was based on an article in the treaty on setting up a union between them.

Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said links with the Russian armed forces would help the effectiveness of his country's army.

"It is time for us to show in the military sphere too that we are aiming for very deep cooperation and closer unity between the armed forces of Belarus and Russia," Lukashenka said in comments broadcast by the radio.

"We do not need to create, I think, especially directed towards the West, any additional armed forces of the Russian Federation.

"I believe that Russia should fully use the might which we at one time together created here on the territory of Belarus," Lukashenka said.

Sergeyev said the two countries were working successfully to build "a unified defence space" in Belarus.

"We have created in principle a great foundation which will allow us to implement the main provisions in the military sphere both in the treaty and the charter of the Union" , Seregeyv told the radio.

"This defends our joint interests which coincide in the defence space of Belarus and Russia."

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.