YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, August 13. /TASS/. Before leaving the Varyag GM cruiser, Russian President and supreme commander-in-chief Vladimir Putin thanked the crew for hospitality.

"I would like to ask the [Pacific Fleet] commander to convey my thanks to all those who took part in the drills. And thanks to the commander and crew for hospitality," he said and shook hands the commanders and, after giving the order "At ease!" to the sailors lined up on the deck, left the ship.

Putin attended the final stage of the Pacific Fleet drills on August 12. He visited the Pacific Fleet’s flagship, missile cruiser Varyag, where he was briefed by Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Viktor Liina and made a number of statements, in particular about the situation in the Asia Pacific regions and plans for strengthening the Pacific Fleet. The president watched the maneuvers from the flagship captain’s plot and after that held a dinner with the crew. In addition, while onboard the ship, he held a meeting on ensuring security of Russia’s eastern borders,

On August 4, the Russian Pacific Fleet began a naval exercise to practice the defense of the country’s Far Eastern borders. About 60 surface ships, submarines and support vessels, about 30 aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles of the Pacific Fleet’s naval aviation, as well as over 13,000 military personnel took part in the maneuvers in the waters of the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Northwest Pacific.