Translated material
Make friends with the General Staffs
Anatoly Serdyukov enlisted support for the reform of the Russian army in the United States
Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov visited the United States for the first time in more than two years in office. In general, the current official visit of the head of the Russian military department to the United States is the first in the last six years.The main topics of negotiations with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates are military reform and expansion of military cooperation between the two countries. The ministers were unanimous: military reforms in Russia and the United States are in many ways similar, they are equally painful, but they are necessary to create a modern army. The similarity is also visible in the fact that both countries have demographic problems and problems associated with recovery from the global financial crisis.
In addition to reform, the ministers spoke about the ratification of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) , the future of missile defense (ABM) and the Treaty on the Reduction of Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty). The situation in Central Asia, Georgia, the South Caucasus, the Middle East, Iran, and Kyrgyzstan was touched upon.
The negotiators, as Mr. Serdyukov said, “discussed in great detail the tasks facing the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the United States.” Robert Gates assured that the American administration is making serious efforts to ensure that the New START Treaty enters into force “in the coming weeks,” and work is underway with Congress. In the field of missile defense, no breakthroughs occurred during the visit, but the American minister again emphasized the desire to cooperate with Russia in this area. Anatoly Serdyukov also expressed his readiness to discuss the topic of missile defense and listen to the US point of view. Further discussion will take place at the level of military experts of the two countries.
As a result of the meeting, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Pentagon (it replaced a similar document signed back in 1993), as well as a joint statement on defense relations between the two states. In practice, a Russian-American working group will be created on the basis of a joint statement. Its task is to carry out the instructions given by Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev to the defense ministers. The co-chairs will be the defense ministers, and the group plans to meet at least once a year. The meetings may be linked to other official events of the defense departments with the participation of the co-chairs. The group will address issues of reform and transformation of the armed forces, defense policy and national security priorities, ensuring transparency and confidence-building, and regional and global security issues.
According to the memorandum, the parties will also develop a military cooperation plan once a year. The head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces and the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces will have the right to approve this plan. The plan will include exchanges of visits by military leaders at various levels, consultations and negotiations, joint exercises, war games and training, ship visits, special training and education programs, conferences and seminars. According to the memorandum, the Ministry of Defense of the two countries will establish separate working subgroups to develop joint positions on any issues of military cooperation and to implement joint projects.
Robert Gates thanked his Russian colleague for his cooperation in developing sanctions against Iran and for his assistance in the transit of American military cargo to Afghanistan through Russian territory. The Pentagon does not hide its interest in purchasing Russian Mi-17 helicopters, as well as the fact that it has encountered some resistance from manufacturers of American helicopters.
Pentagon representatives even spoke after the meeting about the “new thinking” that both ministers are trying to bring to the military system. According to the visit program, Anatoly Serdyukov became acquainted in detail with the functioning of the American military system, in particular with the life of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis and one of the bases of the US Army ground forces.