Ex-Soviet states meet for 'Russian NATO' summit
BAKU. July 31. KAZINFORM The presidents of seven ex-Soviet states were to meet Friday for a summit of a security grouping led by Russia and touted as an eastern counterweight to NATO, AFP reported; Kazinform refers to Trend News.
But the meeting at an idyllic location on the shores of Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan was set to be marked by differences as Moscow struggles to keep control over its former Soviet subjects.
The leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) were set to discuss the implementation of a deal signed on June 14 of the group's first joint rapid reaction force, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The summit, billed as a informal meeting, was due to get underway after 1000 GMT.
The creation of the force -- officially called the Collective Operational Reaction Forces (CORF) -- is a clear bid to rival the Western military alliance's own joint operations; Kazinform has learnt from Trend News.
See www.news-en.trend.az for full version.