PREVIEW - Moscow Conference On International Security Opens On Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd June, 2021) The Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS), an annual forum to discuss urgent issues and tendencies on the international military agenda, which is expected to gather defense officials from nearly 50 countries this year, is opening on Tuesday.

The MCIS, which is due to be held from June 22-24, is bringing together representatives of defense departments, international organizations, and non-government experts looking for answers to key issues of international security. It will include discussions at the conference to promote a better understanding of various countries' positions and help identify potential areas for effective international military cooperation.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has made significant changes in the system of international contacts, intensified a number of former contradictions. We are witnessing how a new world order and forms of interaction in the field of security are being formed," the Russian Defense Ministry, which is the organizer of the event, said ahead of the conference's opening.

Ministers and officials from the defense ministries of 49 countries, the heads of six international organizations, and over 100 experts from Russia and abroad have been invited to attend the forum, the ministry said. Around 600 delegates from 100 countries worldwide are expected to join the forum.

"The Moscow conference is traditionally an open platform, where the opportunity to express their views is provided to all participants without exception," Yevgeny Ilyin, the deputy head of the Main Department of International Military Cooperation (GUMVS) of the ministry, said.

While the details of the Names of the high-ranking delegates are yet to be revealed, there are some officials who either confirmed their participation or arrived in Moscow for the conference.

OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid has already arrived in Moscow and is due to attend the event and to address the public "on trends and prospects in European Security." Schmid has already met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ahead of the conference.

Myanmar's military leader Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Moscow on Sunday to join the conference. He has already held a meeting with Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev at which the two confirmed axmutual desire to strengthen relations.

The head of the Lebanese General Directorate of Security, Brig. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who met with Sergey Naryshkin, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, during his recent visit to Moscow confirmed that Moscow invited him to the security conference.

Meanwhile, the UN press office confirmed that UN Under-Secretary General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix� would visit Moscow this week to represent Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the conference. While in Moscow, Lacroix will hold meetings with senior Russian officials from the foreign, defense and interior ministries.

The first MCIS was held in 2012 and was titled "The missile defense factor in the formation of a new security space." During the conference, the participants discussed all aspects of the missile defense problem, from assessing the threats of missile technology's proliferation to identifying areas for anti-missile defense cooperation, seeking to maintain stability and equal strategic partnership.

In 2020, the conference was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.