MOSCOW. May 11 (Interfax-AVN) - The State Duma defense committee has recommended that the lower house of Russian parliament ratify the agreement between Russia and Uzbekistan on joint deployment of air forces in order to provide air security to both states.
"Since Uzbekistan's withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty, the agreement is among the first international documents displaying the parties' intention to arrange joint defense," Alexei Sigutkin, first deputy chairman of the defense committee, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
The agreement establishes a legal basis for joining efforts, aimed at enforcing air security in Central Asia and promoting relations between Russia and Uzbekistan, Sigutkin said. It determines the order of joint application of Russian and Uzbek air force and air defense means and assets.
The bill on the agreement's ratification has been submitted to the State Duma by President Vladimir Putin, the lawmaker went on. "The agreement was signed in Moscow on October 19, 2001, but until now it has not been ratified, since it was classified. However the document has been declassified recently," he said.
The agreement's ratification "will not result in any changes in Russian legislation or in additional federal budget expenses," Sigutkin said. "In general, the agreement will contribute to maintaining Russia's national security," he noted.
The parties may sign separate agreement providing for an establishment of a joint military force in order to accomplish missions envisaged by the current agreement. This will be done in case the military political situation deteriorates in the region. The force may consist of air force and air defense units of the two parties. The agreement also provides for setting up C2 bodies in order to manage the joint force, Sigutkin said.