MOSCOW. June 17 (Interfax-AVN) - Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has said that Russia is ready to assist NATO in its upcoming peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.
"Our suggestion was accepted with gratitude," Ivanov said at a Tuesday session with the president and a number of Cabinet ministers.
He added that during bilateral meetings in Brussels, he "invited observers to attend (this year's - Interfax) joint exercises of the Russian and French Navies in the Norwegian Sea,"
In addition to this, representatives of the Baltic nations have received invitations to attend late June's exercises of the Baltic and Northern Fleets in the Baltic Sea, and U.S. and Canadian servicemen are expected to join combat training exercises in the Far East this autumn.
Ivanov also spoke of his trip to Kazakhstan, where he attended a session of the Defense Ministers Council and visited the Baikonur cosmodrome, which, he concluded, is capable of implementing both military and civilian programs.