March 2, 1951 saw the USSR Council of Ministers' decision on establishing inside the Ministry of Defence a brand new military body responsible for defence cooperation and liaison with armed forces of foreign states. On March, 15, there followed the Order of the USSR Military Minister who decided to found the 10th Directorate under control of First Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation established in June, 1992, integrates the General Directorate of International Military Cooperation which is formed out of the 10th Directorate.

At present, the General Directorate is composed of a number of structural subdivisions including departments for international treaties, military and technical cooperation, CIS collaboration, international missions and foreign expertise education. It also incorporates a finance department, analysis and administrative depts.