MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax-AVN) - Trust and transparency are inherent in relations between Russian and Italian armed forces, Russian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Yury Baluyevsky said on Tuesday.
"Our relations are characterized by trust and transparency, as well as partnership to a certain extent. We have yet to develop our military cooperation," Baluevsky said before the negotiations with his Italian counterpart Jiampaolo di Paola.
Di Paola noted that military cooperation had already crossed the threshold of friendship and was now more like brotherhood.
Di Paola said that the Vespucci ship in service with the Italian Navy would visit St. Petersburg in August. According to him, the visit will help establish relations between Russian and Italian cadets and other young servicemen.
Baluyevsky emphasized the high level of cooperation between the two navies. He expressed his hope that the negotiations would boost cooperation between the Russian and the Italian armies and other armed services.
Di Paola said that Italy was proud of the Italian aerobatics team's participation in the MAKS 2005 air show to be held in Zhukovsky in August.
Di Paola arrived in Moscow on June 12. His visit envisions meetings with Defense Ministry and State Duma officials. The visit is to end on Wednesday.
Contacts between the Russian and Italian armed forces started in 1973. They were scaled up in 1992, and in 1992-1996 alone, 11 Italian military delegations traveled to Russia, the chief of the Italian Defense Staff made an official visit, and the defense minister made an unofficial visit. The Russian and Italian defense ministers exchanged visits in 2003. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov again visited Italy in March 2005.
Joint development of communication systems, exchange of views on long-term defense planning, discussing of possibilities of holding bilateral exercises, and logistics support and strategic troop transportation are the priority fields of bilateral cooperation, the spokesman said.