Nicaraguan pilots, soldiers to train in Russia

Nicaragua says it will send 14 soldiers and airmen to Russia for six years of training.

The cooperation agreement was announced on Friday, on the eve of a meeting between leftist President Daniel Ortega and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin.

Officials say the military personnel will be trained as helicopter and airplane pilots, tank commanders and military engineers.

Nicaragua was a close Russian ally under Ortega in the 1980s, when Nicaragua fought U.S.-backed Contra rebels.

The two countries have strengthened relations again since Ortega regained the presidency in 2006 elections.

In September, Nicaragua aligned with Russia in becoming the first country to formally recognize the independence of the two breakaway Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.