ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Thousands of troops from Russia and four other former Soviet nations began military exercises in southern Kazakhstan on Friday, the first of their kind for the newly formed, NATO-style rapid-reaction force.
Moscow is hoping that the force will help bolster the power and prestige of the seven-nation Collective Security Treaty Organization, which Russia wants to turn into a counterbalance to NATO but to date has been seen largely as a talking shop.
More than 7,000 troops gathered at the Matybulak training grounds for the maneuvers, which are expected to last two weeks, the Kazakh Defense Ministry said in a statement on its web site.
The ministry said the drills will, among other things, help train troops in combating insurgent uprisings in CSTO member countries — something that has worried some Central Asian nations that share borders with Afghanistan or Pakistan.
In June, President Dmitry Medvedev and leaders of Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan finalized the creation of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force. The other members of the CSTO — Belarus and Uzbekistan — declined to take part.
But Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday that his nation has finalized all procedures to join the new force.
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