Moscow - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday said
modernization of the country's nuclear forces was imperative in part
because of the threat of NATO's eastward expansion, Russian news
agencies reported.
'Attempts to spread NATO's military infrastructure along Russia's
borders have not stopped,' Medvedev said at a Defence Ministry
meeting. 'All of this requires a high-level modernization of our
military forces.
'This improvement of the armies' battle readiness must first of
all impact our strategic nuclear forces,' he was quoted by news
agency Interfax as saying.
Medvedev's comments come as Russia announced a sweeping military
reform of the armed forces that have languished since the fall of the
Soviet Union with outdated equipment and top-heavy command
structures.
But the shrinking budget amid the financial crisis has called into
question the army reforms, and defence analysts say many of the
military's top brass block the modernization that would make
thousands of officers and soldiers redundant.
In spite of the financial crisis, 'our agenda today is to
transform all branches of the army to a state of constant battle
readiness,' Medvedev said Tuesday.
Russia vehemently opposes NATO enlargement to include post-Soviet
neighbors, such as Ukraine and Georgia, that it has traditionally
seen as a friendly beltway between it and the foreign military bloc.
Relations between NATO and the alliance crisped to their lowest
point since the Cold War in August over Russia's brief occupation of
Georgia, which many have said was motivated in part by that countries
strengthening ties with NATO.
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