Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the upcoming Vostok-2018 large-scale military exercises in Russia, which will also involve Chinese troops, after participating in the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, media reported on Thursday, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th September, 2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the upcoming Vostok-2018 large-scale military exercises in Russia, which will also involve Chinese troops, after participating in the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, media reported on Thursday, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The Vostok-2018 military drills, set to become the largest military exercises held by Russia in the last 37 years, are scheduled to be held from September 11 to September 17 in the eastern Russian Trans-Baikal region.
According to the Izvestia newspaper, Putin will supervise one of the stages of the drills. Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who will also participate in the EEF, is not planning to attend the Vostok-2018 maneuvers, the media outlet added.
The upcoming drills will involve nearly 300,000 Russian servicemen, 36,000 tanks, armored personnel carriers and other vehicles, as well as more than 1,000 aircraft. The Chinese Defense Ministry said on August 21 that around 3,200 Chinese troops, over 900 pieces of military hardware, and 30 fixed-winged aircraft and helicopters would take part in the drills. Mongolia will also be engaged in the exercises.
The fourth EEF will be held on September 11-13 in Russia's Far East. The main event of the forum will be the plenary session "The Russian Far East: Creating a New Reality" with Putin's participation.
