Ukraine to join Russian-Belarusian military exercises

He arrived in Minsk on Wednesday, April 20, to attend a joint meeting of the Russian and Belarusian defence ministries' boards.

"We discussed participation in the upcoming military exercise Union Shield 2011 to be held in September," Yezhel said after a meeting with his Russian and Belarusian counterparts, Anatoly Serdyukov and Yuri Zhadobin.

"We will certainly study the plan of the exercise in detail and join in," he added.

"We are also interested in the experience of army reform in Belarus. We should take all the best the Union State of Russia and Belarus has to offer and use it at home," Yezhel said.

The Russian-Belarusian military exercise Union Shield 2011 will be held in September at two training ranges at the same time: Gorokhovetsky in the Nizhny Novgorod region and Ushuluk in the Astrakhan region. The manoeuvres will involve about 12,000 troops, more than 50 planes and helicopters, and 200 pieces of military hardware.