The United States and military personnel from Central and South Asian countries will take part in a joint exercise in June.

Axar.az reports, citing United States Central Command, that the exercise is part of the annual “Regional Cooperation” program.

According to CENTCOM, “Regional Cooperation” is a multilateral command-post exercise conducted with regional partners from Central and South Asia. It focuses on enhancing multinational stability operations and promoting cooperation on counter-terrorism and joint combined capabilities among participating countries.

The statement adds that the exercise aims to establish coordination mechanisms for multinational operations and improve civil-military interaction, with participation from around a dozen countries.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin has claimed that Western countries are attempting to reshape the region for their own interests and may seek to use Central Asian states as a platform that could pose risks to Russia’s security.