Russian Defense Ministry: West resorts to new forms of confrontation
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax) - The main task set by the president for the Russian Defense Ministry for 2015 is to maintain the combat capabilities of the country's Armed Forces and reliably guarantee the defense potential of Russia, Armed Forces General Staff Chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov has said.
Today, the Russian Armed Forces have to tackle this traditional task in new conditions, when "Western countries are actively using new forms of confrontation, combining military and non-military methods" in order to achieve their goals, Gerasimov said at a meeting of the Defense Ministry board at the National Control Center on Friday.
"At the same time, methods of political, economic and information influence are being broadly used," he added.
"It will be possible to effectively respond to all emerging challenges and threats to the national security of the Russian Federation only if institutions of state power closely cooperate in tackling tasks in the political, diplomatic, economic, military, information, social and other spheres," the general said.
"All this will be taken into account as we draft Russia's defense plan for 2016-2020, which will be submitted to the president of Russia for confirmation in December 2015," he said.