MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax) - Russia's confrontation with the collective West continues to intensify, and a military conflict with NATO in Europe is not ruled out in the next decade, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said.
"The Russian Armed Forces have been accomplishing the missions set by the supreme commander-in-chief this year amid a tough confrontation with the collective West, which continues to intensify and grow," Belousov said at an expanded Defense Ministry board meeting on Monday.
The Defense Ministry's operations are based on three key factors. "First, it is carrying out active combat operations during the special military operation. This is also fulfilling separate missions and ensuring military presence in Central Asia and Africa, in the Caucasus and in Transdniestria," he said.
"Secondly, ensuring full readiness for any developments in the medium term, in particular, a possible military conflict with NATO in Europe in the next decade," Belousov said.
"This is reflected in the decisions that were made at the North Atlantic Alliance summit that took place in July this year. This is also included in doctrinal documents of the United States and other NATO countries," he said.
The third factor is developing technologies that are "fundamentally changing the nature of armed fight at all levels from tactical, operational ones and to a strategic one," Belousov said.
"The include artificial intelligence and big data processing, robotics, high-speed secure data transfer, machine-to-machine interaction, quantum computing and communications," he said.
The Armed Forces "should become more flexible and susceptible to innovation, in particular, public sector innovation," Belousov said.