The Russian government approved an agreement with China in Moscow Thursday on the status of military units temporarily deployed in each other's territory during a joint military exercise later this month.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a cabinet meeting that under the agreement, military personnel will be allowed to stay on the territory of the other country according to approved lists rather than passports, the RIA Novosti News Agency reported.

China and Russia will start their first joint military exercises, code-named "Peace Mission 2005," on August 18. The one-week maneuvers will be carried out in Vladivostok in Russia's Far East and east China's Shandong Peninsula and nearby offshore waters.

Russia will send 1,800 troops for the maneuvers, which also involve Russian air refueling and early warning aircraft, Su-27SM fighter jets and naval vessels from the Pacific Fleet.

(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2005)