MEETING WITH THE CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE AND ENTERPRISES OF THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Vladimir V.PUTIN: Good afternoon, dear colleagues!

Today is our final meeting in the framework of the December meetings with Chief Executives of the Ministry of Defence and other departments, as well as enterprises of the military industrial complex. In the course of our work, the key development directions of the Navy were discussed. With the leaders of defence industrial organizations, we discussed the issues concerning implementation of state defence orders, primarily in the areas of construction, modernization, repair and maintenance of weapons and equipment of the Navy.

The special attention was paid to the execution of the orders that were given at the meetings in May of this year, including the order on enhancing the configuration and capabilities of the military and dual-purpose spacecraft constellation.

Today on our agenda, there are issues related to the development and implementation of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence technologies. As I have already noted, these days such technologies are widely used for development of the modern types of armaments and equipment, robotic systems, weapons with new physical operational principles that will greatly determine the future of our Army and Navy.

It is necessary to comprehensively analyse and evaluate the test results of promising weapons systems. I should note that successful researches and developments in the high-tech areas mentioned above are of crucial importance for the development of the civil sector, increase in the science competitiveness level, development of advanced industries and the digital economy infrastructure.

Today we will also discuss counter measures against potential threats associated with the withdrawal of the United States of America from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles.

I should note once more: The Russian Federation is not interested in initiating the arms race and deploying missiles at new areas. As well-known, we have announced the unilateral moratorium on the deployment of such missiles and have invited our colleagues from Europe and the United States to join it. So far, we have got the answer only from Mr. Macron, the President of the French Republic. There is no reaction from other partners. This forces us to take counter measures against these threats.

By the way, let me remind you what we all already know: in 2002, the United States unilaterally withdrew from another major treaty - Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems. But that time they acted directly, they took over the responsibility for this step and did not even try to shift it to the Russian Federation, and it also seemed difficult enough to do it then.

Now, in the current situation, they have also unilaterally withdrawn from the treaty, but, as it turns out for us, they attempt to shift the responsibility for this step to us. This position is not supported by any evidence, but nevertheless such attempts are being made.

There is also another aspect of the disarmament agenda - the START-3 Treaty. It will expire soon. All our proposals to extend the terms of this agreement have been made. So far, we have not received any reaction from our partners. In this regard, I want to confirm once more the position of the Russian Federation: The Russian Federation is ready to immediately, as soon as possible, right by the end of this year, and without any preconditions, extend the period of the START-3 Treaty. I would like to state our position officially, so there will be no possibilities for its double-edge and triple-edge interpretation.

Today we will discuss what we could oppose to all unfriendly steps, and which operational decisions would be the most acceptable and least demanding for us.

Let’s start our work.