Russian military chief urges high alert after Mid-East turmoil

Russia’s chief of general staff has said that the country’s military must be ready to the worst possible scenarios as the political situation in the world is taking complicated and unexpected turns.

Speaking at a Monday press conference in Moscow, Army General Nikolay Makarov said that Russian military organizations must be ready for the worst possible developments. “The situation in the world is complicated and it is constantly changing, especially in North Africa and the Middle East. What happened in these regions was difficult to predict and the events developed at a tremendous speed,” the general said. “No one can tell now what will happen there. However, this is a signal for all states. We, the military, must be ready for the worst scenarios.”The top Russian military official also said that the countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) would soon develop a joint approach to the use of national military forces. “We want to develop a single approach within the CSTO framework to the use of military force,” the Russian general said while speaking about the Center-2011 joint military exercise of the military forces of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. “Apart from the military, all other power structures of the CSTO countries that are included in the state military structure will take part in these exercises. As far as Russia is concerned, we want to check the military organization of the country as a whole, to launch a complex of mobilization moves, including the industry,” Makarov said. “Today we start a separate plan to deploy a number of mobilized military units,” the general said. The mentioned military exercise will start in late September with participation of over 12,000 servicemen, 70 aircraft, 1,000 combat vehicles and the Caspian Flotilla in full force.