Vladimir Putin held a final Collegium of the Ministry of Defense, at which he assessed the state of the Russian Armed Forces and outlined the tasks for their improvement. The main ones are increased combat readiness and the ability to fend off threats that arise at the country's borders. Experts believe that the president fears a military provocation from the West, and his actions are aimed at preventing it. “I would like to note right away that the outgoing year, like the previous 2020, was extraordinary - we understand this very well, first of all, due to the ongoing epidemic of the coronavirus [COVID-19]. And it is fundamentally important that in these difficult conditions, the Armed Forces clearly, without failures, carried out all the tasks facing them, "- said Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 21, opening the collegium.

The head of state noted that the share of modern weapons in the troops exceeded 71%, in the strategic nuclear forces - 89%, and the Russian Navy was on watch “in all significant areas of the World Ocean.

He also drew attention to the quality of combat training of troops and especially noted the Russian-Belarusian exercises "West-2021", recalled the presence of the Russian military in Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Separately, Putin thanked the military doctors, who, among other things, helped the civilian population to fight the coronavirus, and the army created "all the necessary measures" to fight the infection.

“Relying on a solid base created in recent years, on a powerful scientific and technological groundwork, we, of course, must continue to improve, strengthen our Armed Forces, and we will be doing this,” Putin stressed.

According to him, now the military-political situation in the world “remains difficult”, and in a number of regions “the potential for conflict has grown” and “new hotbeds of tension have emerged.”

“Thus, the build-up of the US and NATO military forces directly near the Russian borders, as well as the conduct of large-scale exercises, including unplanned ones, is a matter of serious concern,” the Russian president said.

“We are extremely concerned about the deployment of elements of the US global missile defense system near Russia. The Mk 41 launchers located in Romania and planned for deployment in Poland have been adapted to the use of the Tomahawk strike systems.

If this infrastructure moves on, if the US and NATO missile systems appear in Ukraine, then their flight time to Moscow will be reduced to seven to ten minutes, and if hypersonic weapons are deployed, to five. For us, this is a serious challenge - a challenge to our security, "Putin stressed.

He added that he proposed to the US President to begin negotiations "to develop specific agreements" that would rule out NATO expansion to the east and the deployment of strike weapons "in neighboring countries".

“The drafts of the corresponding agreements have been handed over to the American colleagues and the NATO leadership, as you know. We need long-term, legally binding guarantees, ”Putin stressed.

At the same time, he recalled that the United States easily withdraws from international treaties if they "for one reason or another become uninteresting to them." As an example, Putin cited the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty, from which the United States withdrew unilaterally.

In addition, despite the "almost allied" relations in the 1990s, when "American specialists sat on a permanent basis at the facilities of the nuclear weapons complex of the Russian Federation," and "US advisers, CIA personnel," worked in the Russian government, the Americans supported " separatism in the North Caucasus ”, moreover, with the help of terrorist organizations.

“Why? Why was it necessary to expand NATO, withdraw from the ABM treaties? - asked the President of the Russian Federation. “What is happening now, the tension that is developing in Europe, is their fault.”

“At every step Russia was forced to somehow respond, at every step the situation was constantly getting worse, worse, worse - degraded and degraded. And today we are in such a situation when we are forced to decide something: we cannot allow the development of the situation that I mentioned. What, is it not clear, perhaps, to someone? It should be clear, ”Putin added.

“Sometimes you ask yourself: why did they do all this in those conditions? Unclear. I think that from euphoria in connection with the victory in the so-called cold war or with the so-called victory in the cold war and because of the wrong, wrong assessment of the situation at that time, illiterate, wrong analysis of possible options for the development of the situation - because of this "- said Putin.

“I want to emphasize again: we do not demand any special, exclusive conditions for ourselves. Russia stands for equal and indivisible security in the entire Eurasian space, ”the President stressed.The editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko believes that Putin's position testifies that in the current situation he is ready for any military and military-technical measures.

“If we fail to come to an agreement, we ourselves will construct the geopolitical reality of Europe. And how we will construct it - let the West sit and wait, how we will do it. There are different ways, methods. Today everything is permissible, ”Korotchenko said.

At the same time, he recalled that the countermeasures that Russia is going to take have not yet been announced. “They will be implemented if we fail to conclude an agreement on legal security guarantees. Then concrete measures will already be taken. These measures are not announced in advance, the expert added.

According to the interlocutor of Gazeta.Ru, the measures can be very different - from military-technical (placement of certain weapons systems in certain points) to military (military-force reaction of any nature). “They are aimed at preventing Ukraine from becoming a springboard for new aggression against Russia. A forceful response can be anything that Putin accepts, ”Korotchenko stressed.

Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov makes less optimistic forecasts, arguing that a military conflict between Russia and the West could begin at any moment.

“Today the country and the world as a whole are in a situation where a military conflict can be really unleashed in the near future. Moreover, information is received that British and German special forces suddenly appeared in Transnistria, who tried to break into the territory of Transnistria. And in these conditions, today, as I understand it, our leadership has the task of preventing a military conflict. Because the situation is now heading towards this. Actually, this is the main goal. Proceeding from this, everything is being built, ”Sivkov noted.

According to him, at the Collegium, Putin outlined two lines: a demonstration that Russia possesses "modern Armed forces capable of giving a worthy rebuff to an aggressor" and an appeal to the countries "to which this appeal is directed" to listen to Russian proposals for reconciliation .

“This testifies that the leadership of our country has serious fears that in the near future military actions may be unleashed against our country, or the country will be drawn into hostilities. And all this is the main leitmotif, "Sivkov noted.

According to him, there are no revolutionary transformations in the plans to equip the army, voiced by the president and the minister of defense, this is a planned build-up of weapons and military equipment.

“We are talking about single models for the fleet, hundreds of units for aviation, but these hundreds are too diverse, there are planes and drones, and what is not there - there are several dozen combat aircraft. This, of course, is only a replenishment, but by no means a radical change in the balance of forces, "Sivkov stressed.

At the same time, he noted that despite the development of high-precision strike weapons, the Russian army lacks intelligence and command and control facilities.

“For all this strike weapons to be implemented, we need forces and means of reconnaissance and target designation, which, unfortunately, we do not have in sufficient quantities. This is a task that now needs to be addressed. We will see how it will be solved, ”Sivkov noted.

In turn, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Colonel General Leonid Ivashov recalled that Russian leaders themselves pulled Eastern Europe into NATO and created conditions for American domination.

"[The first president of the Russian Federation] Boris Yeltsin, speaking in Poland, essentially invited everyone to NATO and suggested that Russia be included in NATO. When the Partnership for Peace program was announced, Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev notifies NATO that we are the first to join this program. And everyone else ran after him. Then this Russia-NATO council was created. Therefore, we ourselves have sunk to the point where they put their boots on top of us, ”Ivashov believes.

He added that it is necessary to create a command of cyber troops in Russia, which could fend off information and psychological threats of the new era.

“We see that today there is a new war, a hybrid one. It is based on information and psychological technologies, and political new technologies, including those for changing consciousness, for creating agents of influence. What is Russia doing today in terms of soft power? Where do we have Cyber ​​Command? The Americans have now deployed up to 20 thousand specialists from all over the world, including Russian specialists, who work and keep all our electronic systems under control. Our entire server base is based on American technology, ”added the Colonel General.

According to him, today "in all vital spheres" of Russia there are Americans - "through shareholders and corrupt oligarchs." They own stakes in energy and oil and gas companies and control the IT sector.

bbabo.Net