TSAMTO, December 25. The chief of the General staff of the RF armed forces – first Deputy defense Minister army General Valery Gerasimov 24 Dec met with representatives military-diplomatic corps accredited in Russia.
Arrived at the invitation of the Russian defense Ministry at the national control centre defense of the Russian Federation of foreign military attaches chief of the General staff told about the results of the activities of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the past year and plans for next year.
Below are the speaking notes of chief of the General staff of the armed forces in the presentation of the Department of information and mass communications of the Russian defense Ministry.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen!
Despite the restrictions associated with the spread of the new coronavirus infection, we considered it important to hold today's meeting, which has already become traditional. It is the final one in the official international events of the Russian Ministry of defense in the outgoing year.
On December 21, an expanded Board of the Ministry of defense was held, which was attended by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. In his speech, the Supreme commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces set tasks to ensure the military security of the state.
Defense Minister General of the army Shoigu Sergey Kuzhugetovich made a detailed report. He summed up the main results of the activities of the Armed Forces in the current year.
The materials of the Board are publicly available on the website of the Ministry of defense and have been widely covered in the media. I believe you have all had the opportunity to read them.
During today's briefing, I will focus on certain aspects of the military Department's activities that are important for understanding the direction of training the Army and Navy.
At present, the international situation is characterized by a further aggravation of global and regional security problems.
The growing tension in the world is facilitated by the expansion of terrorism and radical extremism, the ongoing global economic downturn against the background of the spread of coronavirus infection, as well as the destructive foreign policy of a number of States.
The conflict potential in Transcaucasia and terrorist activity in Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Libya remain. The degree of tension in Iranian-American relations is not decreasing.
There is a significant increase in the military budgets of NATO countries, further increasing their military potential.
Training activities of the Alliance's troops are carried out with a pronounced anti-Russian orientation, in which non-aligned countries are increasingly involved. There is an increase in provocative activities near the Russian borders.
The uncontrolled build-up of missile defense capabilities continues, which has a significant impact on the balance of power, giving one of the parties an advantage in the use of strategic weapons.
The role of non-nuclear weapons with a long range, high accuracy and the power of combat equipment is increasing. Their use makes it possible to solve tasks that previously could only be performed with the use of nuclear weapons.
Military confrontation extends to cyberspace and outer space, as a result, the risks of incidents due to interference in the functioning of control systems and ensuring the use of nuclear weapons increase.
In these circumstances, nuclear deterrence remains a key element in ensuring the military security of the Russian Federation. Official views on the essence of nuclear deterrence are set out in the" Fundamentals of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the field of nuclear deterrence", put into effect by Presidential decree in June 2020.
In accordance with the Fundamentals, Russia's state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence is purely defensive and is aimed at maintaining the potential of nuclear forces at a sufficient level for deterrence.
Nuclear weapons are considered as a means of forcing a potential enemy to refuse to unleash aggression against our country.
Statements about the alleged concept of "escalation for de-escalation" adopted by the Armed Forces are speculation. There is nothing like this in the Russian documents.
In defining approaches to nuclear deterrence, special attention was paid to the implementation of international obligations in the field of arms control. Today, the elements of control are contained only in the start Treaty, which expires on February 5, 2021. After this date, neither Russia nor the United States will have any restrictions.
We consider this situation as difficult, but surmountable. On October 16, Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin announced his readiness to extend the agreement without any additional conditions in order to create opportunities for further work on a new agreement in this area.
In addition, within the framework of nuclear deterrence, taking into account the positive experience of Russian-Chinese cooperation, the agreement on notifications of missile launches has been extended for 10 years. This event is significant not only for the Asia-Pacific region, but also in the global dimension, as it demonstrates the leading role of Russia and China in reducing tensions in the region, where there is an increase in tension.
The increased number of NATO ships entering the Black, Baltic and Barents seas is a cause for concern. The number of flights of strategic aviation of the United States of America has also increased.
Earlier, our partners in NATO and the United States were asked to think about measures that could prevent a negative development of the situation:
- first, it is the resumption of dialogue on the military line to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern to Russia and NATO. We could start with consultations at the level of military experts;
- secondly, to take measures to reduce the activity of military activities along the line of direct contact between Russia and NATO. At the same time, act on the basis of reciprocity and maximum transparency;
- third, to improve the mechanism for preventing dangerous military activities in the airspace and at sea. First of all, in the Baltic sea and the black sea region.
These proposals have been repeatedly presented, including at the NATO-Russia Council, but no response to our initiatives has been received.
Also, in recent years, the United States and other NATO countries have become more active in implementing a set of measures to strengthen the" Northern flank " of the Alliance, including an increase in combat training activities conducted near our Northern borders under the pretext of deterring Russia in the Arctic.
However, our presence in the Arctic is not a demonstration of military force, and security economic development of the region, including navigation in the water area of the Northern sea route and implementation of projects in the field of extraction of natural resources in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation.
Russia has the legal right to establish rules for navigation in waters under its jurisdiction and to monitor their implementation by other States.
During the year, the Armed Forces solved planned tasks to increase the combat potential, improve the training of personnel, methods of managing troops and weapons, as well as the supply of modern weapons and military equipment.
The strategic nuclear forces continued to be re-equipped with modern and promising missile systems, as well as the modernization of long-range aircraft.
The share of modern weapons in the nuclear "triad" has been brought to 86%.
The high level of combat readiness, reliability and effectiveness of strategic nuclear forces was confirmed during the training conducted in the first decade of December under the leadership of the President of the Russian Federation. All combat training launches were completed successfully during this training.
In the past year, the necessary measures were taken to increase the combat capabilities of the General forces.
About 1,700 units of armored, rocket-artillery and other weapons were delivered to the troops of the military districts, the Northern fleet and the Airborne troops.
To ensure the security of the Russian Federation from the ocean and sea directions, ships of the far and near sea zones are being built, and the system of basing the Navy Is being improved.
The air defense system developed. First of all, the system of air space reconnaissance in our border areas was increased. This makes it possible to respond more quickly to violations in the airspace. Increased fire capabilities of air defense systems, including the fight against cruise missiles.
In General, the planned supply of weapons and equipment to the troops allowed them to maintain their serviceability at the level of 95%, and the share of modern weapons in the Russian Armed Forces was brought to 70.1%.
Combat training remains a priority in the Armed Forces.
The main training event this year was the strategic command and staff exercise "Caucasus-2020".
It was attended by military contingents of five foreign countries.
The plan of the exercise did not provide for actions against any countries, its scenario was defensive in nature.
One of the features of the exercise was the creation of coalition groups, planning and managing their use in a single system. New forms of application and methods of actions of troops and forces were also tested.
A large-scale operational exercise "Ocean shield-2020" was held, during which the created inter-fleet groups of forces and troops in cooperation with the aviation of the Aerospace forces performed a wide range of tasks in the Western, Arctic and Eastern strategic directions.
In addition, joint international exercises were held. It exercises with the peacekeeping forces of the CSTO "Inviolable brotherhood", a special doctrine for logistics support "Tier" Russian-Mongolian exercise "Selenge" Russian-Pakistani exercise "Friendship-2020" and Russian-Belarusian maneuvers "Slavic brotherhood-2020".
Next year, the main event of the training of the Armed Forces will be the joint strategic exercise of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus "West-2021". Military contingents of foreign countries will traditionally be invited to it.
During the year, the Armed Forces performed tasks outside the Russian Federation.
In Syria, assistance continued to be provided to government forces in the fight against international terrorist organizations.
At the beginning of the year, in response to regular attacks by terrorists on peaceful settlements, as well as attacks on positions of government troops and Russian military facilities, the Syrian army, with the support of the Russian aerospace forces, was forced to conduct an operation to liberate the South-Eastern part of the Idlib de-escalation zone from radicals.
As a result, a significant part of the territory was returned to the control of the government of the country, and conditions were created to exclude shelling of the Khmeimim airfield and the city of Aleppo. One of the main transport arteries – the M5 highway, which is now freely used by thousands of Syrians, has been liberated.
In General, the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic tends to stabilize.
In September of this year, the contradictions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone sharply escalated, which provoked the outbreak of hostilities in the region.
In order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and protect the local population, in accordance with the trilateral agreements, a Russian peacekeeping contingent from the 15 separate motorized rifle brigade of the Central military district was promptly deployed in the conflict zone. 15 brigade is trained on a permanent Basis according to the program of training of peacekeeping units.
Today, the Lachin corridor and the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh are fully controlled by units of Russian peacekeepers. They ensure the implementation of agreements on a ceasefire and military operations at 23 observation posts.
A management system has been deployed to guide the peacekeeping operation, allowing it to respond quickly to changes in the situation. The General staff has organized cooperation and established direct channels of communication with the military departments of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Russian troops are the guarantor of the ceasefire and the restoration of peaceful life in Nagorno-Karabakh, to which more than 43 thousand refugees have returned to date.
To ensure the safe life of the population, work is underway to clear territories and roads of explosive objects. Currently, more than 280 hectares of territory and more than 100 km of roads have been cleared, about nine thousand explosive objects have been detected and neutralized.
In order to strengthen confidence-building measures, the Ministry of defense of the Russian Federation continues to increase the scale of cooperation with foreign partners. This year, three international agreements were signed, including a new Agreement on military cooperation with the Republic of Kazakhstan.
One of the main priorities of international military cooperation was the fight against the new coronavirus infection.
As soon as possible, by the decision of the President of the Russian Federation, consolidated detachments of the Armed Forces were formed and sent to assist in the outbreaks of the pandemic in Europe, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia.
Anti-epidemic measures carried out during humanitarian missions to disinfect and provide the necessary assistance helped to reduce the incidence of new coronavirus infection among the local population.
Special attention is still paid to expanding mutual relations with the CIS member States, strengthening the collective forces of the CSTO, as well as developing the military component of the SCO.
On December 1, this year, under the chairmanship of the Minister of defense of the Russian Federation, a meeting of the Council of defense Ministers of the CSTO member States was held via video conference, where proposals for joint counteraction to challenges and threats to collective security were considered.
Representatives of the Russian Ministry of defense took part in international conferences of the ASEAN Regional security forum and meetings of the Meeting of defense Ministers of the ASEAN countries and dialogue partners "SMOA plus".
An important stage of this work was the holding of the final meeting of the "SMOA plus" at the level of heads of defense departments on December 10. The key element was an open exchange of views on the creation of mechanisms for joint response to military security challenges in the region.
Next year, the Russian defense Ministry will continue to work on creating conditions for stabilizing the situation at the global and regional levels, as well as progressive and balanced development of the Army and Navy to ensure peaceful socio-economic development of the country without being drawn into a costly arms race.
The modern Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are capable of neutralizing any threats to the security of the state and are guaranteed to protect the national interests of Russia and its allies.
Military cooperation with the armies of foreign countries remains one of the priorities. We count on the active participation of military attaches in maintaining constructive cooperation.
At the end of our meeting, I congratulate you on the upcoming holidays-Christmas and New year 2021 and wish you and your loved ones health and well-being.
Thank you for your attention."
