ASTRAKHAN. July 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The upcoming training voyage of the Caspian Flotilla aims to strengthen stability in the Caspian region, Russian Navy Commander Vladimir Kuroyedov has said.
The war games "pose no threat to maritime nations and meet all security requirements," Kuroyedov told a coordination conference that he held in Astrakhan on Wednesday. The event involved high-ranking officials of the Navy, the Caspian Flotilla command, representatives of federal bodies taking part in the training voyage, officials of the Federal Border Guard Service, Interior Ministry, Transport Ministry and other ministries and departments.
"The coordination conference, which was effectively the starting point of the exercise on the Caspian Sea, discussed interaction of all ministries and departments and finalized plans of participation in the events," Kuroyedov's aide and chief of the Navy press center Colonel Igor Dygalo told Interfax-Military News Agency.
Kuroyedov heard reports of heads of operations groups checking readiness of troops and forces for the exercise, checked the organization of planning and correspondence of the plans to regulatory documents and legal norms, Dygalo said.
According to Kuroyedov, "maintenance of safe navigation in the framework of the North-South international transport route is among the goals of Russia's military presence on the Caspian Sea."
The Russian leadership believes that the war games serve political and economic interests of all Caspian nations. Russia's military potential in the sea must guarantee full stability and security in the region for all nations. Drug smuggling routes must be tapped, measures against poaching must be taken and the terrorist threat must be removed. These are the goals that participants in the war games are trying to achieve, Dygalo said.