Belarusian Defense Ministry: No decision on deploying Russian airbase in this country as of yet
MINSK. Dec 18 (Interfax) - The issue of deploying a Russian air base in Belarus still remains open, Belarusian Defense Minister Andrei Ravkov told reporters in Minsk on Friday.
"Nothing has changed. The issue has not been discussed and, perhaps, will not be discussed," Ravkov said.
Russia and Belarus will actively develop military and military-technical cooperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said following the talks on Thursday.
Putin gave an instruction to the Defense Ministry with the participation of the Foreign Ministry in September to hold talks with the Belarusian side and following the talks to sign a draft agreement between the two countries on setting up a Russian airbase in Belarus.
The Russian government said previously that the agreement was due to promote the organization of the joint protection of the Union State border in air space and the creation of a Russian-Belarusian Joint Regional Air Defense System.
