"The exercises will be held in the territory of Kazakhstan and Russia," First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov was quoted as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency.

CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha said the bloc will not hold exercises in the South Caucasus in response to the ongoing NATO war games in Georgia.

"We do not plan to respond," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

The CSTO, which consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, agreed in early February to form rapid reaction forces.

The forces, which Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said "will be just as good as comparable NATO forces," are expected to counter such threats as military aggression, terrorist activities and drug trafficking.