Chief of General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces arrives in Uzbekistan

Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Valery Gerasimov, arrived in Uzbekistan on an official visit, during which he will discuss issues of military cooperation between Moscow and Tashkent. Also, he will observe the course of the Russian-Uzbek exercises held near the borders with Afghanistan. TASS reports with reference to the press service of the RF Defense Ministry.

“The Chief of the General Staff, First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Valery Gerasimov, arrived on an official visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan on Thursday. The deputy head of the Russian military department will hold talks with the military-political leadership of Uzbekistan, during which issues of regional security and cooperation between the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan in the military field will be discussed,” the department said.

In addition, Gerasimov will observe the active phase of a joint bilateral Russian-Uzbek tactical exercise held in the Surkhandarya region bordering Afghanistan, within which the armies of the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan are working out joint actions to protect the territorial integrity of the countries of the Central Asian region.

In total, about 1,500 military servicemen of the two countries, up to 200 units of weapons, military and special equipment, four Tu-22M3 aircrafts of the Russian Aerospace Forces are involved in the Russian-Uzbek exercise.