QINGDAO (China), August 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and China may conduct joint military exercises on a regular basis, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday.
"This is possible, but we have not made any plans yet," the minister told journalists upon arrival in Qingdao. He said he did not rule out that such exercises might be conducted regularly but added he did not think this should be done annually.
Ivanov said hasty decisions should not be made, as preparation for any exercise was a serious event.
The minister said the decision to conduct the first ever Russian-Chinese exercises had been made in Beijing in December 2004. He said he could not think of any reason against the event "unless someone [had] a principled position that there should never be any military cooperation between Russia and China."
