The Guardian 17 May, 2006
Russian army must prevent new world war
The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian army says that the major role of the Russian army on the international arena is to prevent a new world war.
"It is my personal opinion that the main goal of the Russian army is to prevent a war similar to the one that our ancestors lived through, because, God forbid, if we allow this war to happen, it will be much worse than the previous one", said General Yuri Baluyevsky after a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square commemorating Victory Day in the war against Nazism.
Baluyevsky said that stability in the world should be primarily achieved by preventive political, diplomatic and economic measures, but any country had the right to show its military capability to defend its national interests.
Speaking about Russia’s position on the international arena, the general said the country should not copy the example of Europe or Asia.
"Russia should follow its own path. It has always been, is and will be Russia, because not a single country that is considered a political trendsetter has the same history as our country does", said Baluyevsky.
Strategic forces
In a report on the State of the Nation delivered last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia’s strategic forces would be bolstered with new weaponry while the army must be ready to resist external pressure and fight in global and regional conflicts.
The President said a predominantly professional army remained a priority and the Armed Forces had to be capable of reacting to multiple threats. "We should always be ready to repel a potential external aggressor and international terrorist attacks, and should be able to respond to any attempt to exert foreign policy pressure on Russia", he said.
The Russian leader highlighted the role of the strategic nuclear forces and said they would be substantially strengthened in the next five years.
Putin said that current research was focused on the development of unique high-precision weapons and warheads "whose trajectory could not be predicted by a potential enemy".
At the same time he issued a warning on the dangers that new technology presented. "We still have no guarantees that weapons, including nuclear weapons, will not be deployed in the space", he said.
The President said Russia’s defence spending should be comparable with that of any other nuclear power. In 2005, the Russian budget allocated less than $US20 billion for defence spending against a Pentagon budget of $US447 billion.