By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C.
Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 12, 2012 – The chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff met with his Russian counterpart today at the
Pentagon to discuss international security issues and methods to foster
military relations, said Navy Cmdr. Scott McIlnay, public affairs officer for
the chairman.
U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey met
with Russian Army Gen. Nikolay Makarov, deputy minister of defense and chief of
the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
“This was General Dempsey's first
substantive meeting with General Makarov since he assumed duties as Chief of
General Staff in June 2008,” McIlnay said. “The two leaders had brief contact
in January and April at the Military Committee in Chief of Defense Staff
session.”
McIlnay said the chairman and Makarov
discussed “topics of mutual security interests in Afghanistan, [and] the Middle
East, to include Syria, the Asia-Pacific, and missile defense.
“They also discussed the status and way
ahead for the Bilateral Presidential Commission's Military Cooperation Working
Group (MCWG),” he said.
McIlnay explained the working group was
established to identify mutually beneficial areas of cooperation; coordinate
implementation of joint projects to strengthen strategic stability and
international security; develop military contacts; discuss matters of mutual
security; and monitor execution of current cooperative projects and joint
activities.
“The Military Cooperation Work Plan, a
product of the MCWG, has seen recent expansion, with 17 events included in the
2009 plan and 110 events in the 2012 plan,” McIlnay said. “Bilateral
engagements on the work plan include port visits, education exchanges, and
exercises.”
McIlnay noted that the U.S. and Russian
Forces Joint Training Exercise on Fort Carson, Colo., in May was an example of
previous cooperation between both militaries.
“For about two weeks, 20 Russian
soldiers conducted joint training with U.S. forces,” he said.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment