14:25 GMT, February 2, 2010 Belarusian Defence Minister Lieutenant General Yuri Zhadobin is paying an official visit to Russia. The Belarusian and Russian defence ministers and the two delegations held an open dialogue on the present state of Belarus-Russian military cooperation and its further development.

The two parties also discussed the issues of bilateral cooperation in air force and air defence, joint use of military infrastructure, the functioning of the regional joint force and its further development, training of military personnel and cooperation in the information sphere.

The participants of the meeting reached important agreements, aimed at achieving practical results.

The defence ministers signed a Protocol on Amendments to the Agreement between the Belarusian Defence Ministry and the Russian Defence Ministry on Allocating Russian Military Ranges to Belarusian Air Defence Units for Conducting Field Firing.

The amendments will allow Belarusian air units to use Russian military ranges for exercises with field firing in conjunction with the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defence, as well as with the Russian Air Force.

The defence ministers approved the Plan of Bilateral Cooperation between the Belarusian and Russian Defence Ministries for 2010. This document traditionally covers a wide range of organisational and practical activities of bilateral military cooperation.