WORLD BRIEFING / RUSSIA
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Russia announced an agreement with a group of former Soviet republics to form a military rapid-reaction force.
President Dmitry Medvedev said the force, to which Russia would contribute an elite division and a brigade, should be able “to rebuff military aggression,” fight terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime, and respond to disasters.
He said it “must be no weaker than similar forces” of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The other nations involved in the Collective Security Treaty Organization are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
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