- MOSCOW (Reuters) - The defence ministers of Russia and Belarus said
on Friday they would beef up military ties in response to NATO's eastward
expansion and its threats of military strikes against Yugoslavia. ``We
have the legal basis to pool our capabilities in the military-political
sphere to work to counter the eastward expansion of NATO,'' Russian Defence
Minister Igor Sergeyev said in televised remarks during talks with Belarussian
officials. Russia and Belarus have formed a loose customs union that both
sides say they hope can be the basis for closer political and economic
integration. On Friday, senior officials held talks in Moscow aimed at
deepening ties. Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, who headed the
meeting, said the union with Russia's smaller neighbour was a priority
for his new government. ``We will work to strengthen our ties,'' he said
in brief televised remarks. He later said Russian President Boris Yeltsin
would meet Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko sometime soon, although
the Kremlin would not confirm any plans. Both states have criticised NATO's
plans to admit former socialist countries of eastern and central Europe
and have also fiercely opposed the alliance's threat of air strikes against
Yugoslav targets in Serbia's restive province of Kosovo. ``As never before,
military and political cooperation between the defence ministers of Russia
and Belarus has acquired pressing importance,'' Belarussian Defence Minister
General Alexander Chumakov told Sergeyev.
Itar-Tass news agency quoted Sergeyev as saying he and Chumakov had discussed
the Kosovo issue at length but had made no decisions ``on rendering military
assistance to Belgrade.'' Russian ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky
told Ekho Moskvy radio he had received a request from Yugoslavia's nationalist
Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj requesting that Yugoslavia join as
the third member of the Russia-Belarus union. ``Who's stopping us? It's
a warm country, in the south, in the Balkans. Who's stopping us from sending
our fleet into the Mediterranean Sea for a friendly visit to Serbian ports?''
Serbia has no outlet to any sea, but has access to port facilities on the
Adriatic through Montenegro, its sole remaining partner in what remains
of the Yugoslav federation. The conflict in Kosovo has prompted some of
Moscow's strongest anti-Western rhetoric since the end of the Cold War,
especially from generals and parliamentarians. But Russian diplomats and
civilian government officials have been more cautious in their statements
than the military and politicians.
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