Top Russian defence officials gather in Moscow for 4-day conference

Moscow, Nov 14 (UNI) Russia's top military officials today gathered here for a four-day conference to review the country's armed forces defence preparedness.

Senior-level military commanders are participating in the conference to discuss troops' combat and mobilisation training, and ways to strengthen order and military discipline in the Russian armed forces, Defense Ministry spokesman Col Vyacheslav Sedov told Interfax news agency.

The commanders will spend the first two days working at the command headquarters of the arms and services, which will be followed by an expanded meeting of top-level commanders at the Defence Ministry on November 16.

Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov will present the main report on combat training in the armed forces and navy in 2006 and outline plans for 2007.

The expanded meeting will be attended by Cabinet members, parliamentary deputies, senators and high-ranking Kremlin officials.

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