OREANDA-NEWS. Belarus is participating in negotiations with NATO on the implementation of joint peacekeeping exercises. This was announced on Tuesday by the Russian media in the Ministry of Defense of Belarus. "As for the joint exercises with NATO, this isn't about preparation, but about the negotiation process", the republic’s defense department said.

The Ministry of Defense specified that "in the framework of preparing for the deployment of a peacekeeping unit to the Italian contingent in the mission of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, the possibility of conducting joint training with representatives of the Armed Forces of the Italian Republic is really being worked out". "In this case, we are talking about improving the coherence of the units in operations to maintain international peace and security," the Ministry of Defense of Belarus explained.

Belarus joined the Partnership for Peace NATO program in January 1995. Since 1998, a permanent mission of the republic to NATO has been operating in Brussels, which includes two representatives of the Ministry of Defense.