MOSCOW. Aug 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Defense Ministry plans to release the White Paper on national defense by the end of 2013 that will cover the period ending in 2020, a Defense Ministry spokesman told Interfax-AVN.
"The idea is to establish an open and constructive interaction with civil society on matters of public control over the main programs for the development of the army and navy," he said.
"The White Paper will highlight the main trends in the development of the Russian armed forces through 2020 and the main stages in the implementation of the State Armaments Program. Other aspects open to the public will be reflected, as well, the spokesman said.
It will be the second White Paper on national defense to be released in Russia. The first was one published in 2006 and it addressed the issue of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, arousing much interest in Russia and abroad.
It said, for instance, that Russia scrapped 400 sea- and land-based strategic missiles between 2002 and 2005, and eliminated 96 silo-based launchers for RS-20 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 28 rail-based missile launchers. Russia had cut its nuclear arsenal by more than 80% by 2005, the White Paper said.