Russian-US War Games Called Off — Defense Ministry

A Russian news agency reported Tuesday that Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that joint military exercises with US forces set for later this month had been canceled due to unspecified problems with US personnel.

Interfax quoted what it said was a high-ranking Defense Ministry official as saying, “The reason is the unresolved question on the status of U.S. personnel commanding the exercises.”

Russian Defense Ministry officials said they could not confirm the report. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow had no immediate comment.

The Torgau-2006 exercises were to be held later this month in the central Russian region of Nizhny Novgorod, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Moscow.

In previous years, the exercises were aimed at helping the two former adversaries coordinate a joint response to terrorism, as well as coordinate peacekeeping missions.

Last year, more than 275 Russian and U.S. troops held joint maneuvers outside Moscow as part of the exercises, which are named after the German town where American and Soviet soldiers met up on the Elbe River in 1945.

Source(©): Mosnews