MOSCOW -- Russian Defense Minister Igor Rodionov and his Mongolian counterpart signed a military cooperation agreement Monday and pledged to work toward closer ties between their former communist countries.


Rodionov called for the development of cooperation in a "new political and economic environment," Interfax reported.


A former Soviet satellite, Mongolia had Russian troops stationed on its territory -- mainly along the Chinese border -- until 1993.


Mongolia threw off hard-line communism in 1990 and adopted a multiparty system, but it was governed by former communists until they were voted out last June.