Russia Must Strengthen Armed Forces Without Joining Global Arms Race - Putin

SOCHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th November, 2018) Russia must ensure a balanced development of its armed forces without being drawn into a new global arms race, President Vladimir Putin said Monday.

"We see that in recent years, the situation on the planet has not become calmer, unfortunately ... In these conditions, not allowing to be drawn into a militarist race, and using flexible, non-costly for the budget, but effective solutions, we must ensure the steady and balanced development of the army and the navy so that they are able to neutralize any potential threats," Putin said at a meeting with military and defense industry officials.

The president pointed out that the situation in some regions had deteriorated within recent years.

"For example, the situation in the middle East and Afghanistan is highly unstable, the situation on the Korean Peninsula is highly uncertain. Despite the Minsk agreements the military confrontation in southeastern Ukraine is underway. NATO continues to boost its military potential near our borders and the future of basic arms control agreements raises questions," Putin noted.

The president added that improvement of combat training of troops taking into account the Syrian experience, and supplying the army and fleet with advanced weapons were priorities of the Russian Armed Forces development.