The first of the four S-300 surface-to-air missile systems that Russia has contracted to supply to Belarus arrived in Minsk on April 21, Belapan reported, quoting Belarusian Defense Minister Leanid Maltsau. Maltsau added that the remaining three system will be delivered until the end of this year.

Robert Simmons, special representative of NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer for the South Caucasus and Central Asia, said in the course of a NATO delegation’s visit to Kazakhstan on April 22 that it is “important for us that Kazakhstan has advanced and signed the Individual Partnership Action Plan with …

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told the Minsk-based daily “Sovetskaya Belorussiya” of April 20 that “in the event of a clear violation of the balance of forces near our borders [by NATO], we reserve the lawful right to take all necessary measures to ensure the [soundness] of our national security,” Interfax …