MOSCOW. May 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian government has approved draft agreements on cooperation in military issues with South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The government's appropriate resolutions are available through the database of the Russian Cabinet's regulatory documents.
The bilateral agreements envision cooperation in security matters with the aim of protecting the parties' national interests.
According to the documents, the signatories pledge to cooperate to enhance their own security, to promote confidence-building measures, to ensure the security and control of their airspace, and to jointly train military instructors and servicemen.
Russia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia also plan to work together to improve communication between their armed forces, automatic command and military intelligence systems, interstate military transportation arrangements, logistics services and other areas.
Military cooperation will proceed in the form of operational and combat training programs for servicemen, consultations, conferences, workshops and working meetings of experts and specialists.
"Depending on the military-political and security situation in the region, the parties may consider the need to create a joint group of forces with a certain composition and procedures for commanding such a group's military units and for arranging their cooperation in times of peace and war," the documents say.
The agreements are expected to be valid for the next 49 years with subsequent automatic five-year extensions.