With the events of 2011 in mind, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko praises military-technical cooperation with Russia after reviewing the results of a joint military exercise held with Russian forces.

­"The military-technical cooperation with the Russian Federation has proven fruitful,” Lukashenko said on Friday. “Military cooperation between Belarus and Russia makes the countries stronger as members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization." 

Lukashenko’s comments were in response to a report submitted by Belarusian Defense Minister Yury Zhadobin on the performance of the armed forces in Union Shield–2011, a large-scale joint Russian-Belarusian military exercise that took place in September.

The military exercise was held at two Russian training ranges: Gorokhovetsky in the Nizhny Novgorod region and Ushuluk in the Astrakhan region. About 12,000 soldiers from both countries participated in the exercises, which involved the use of some 50 fighter jets and helicopters.

Although the two nations have experienced occasional setbacks in their relations, mostly involving economic disagreements, relations between Minsk and Moscow remain on solid ground.

The strength of the alliance relations between Belarus and Russia has been confirmed, the Belarusian leader added, while heaping praise on the performance of the Belarusian troops.

"The fundamental importance of the exercise lies in the fact that the 5,000-strong Belarusian grouping demonstrated a high standard of training and organization thousands of kilometers away from home," he said.  "This convincingly proves that we have a truly combat capable army that can reliably guarantee the peaceful labor of the Belarusian people.

We should be prepared in light of the events of this year, which prove that some world superpowers consider military force as the best means for achieving foreign policy results, he stressed.

Robert Bridge, RT