MOSCOW. Nov 18 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has said that the plan for introducing a contract army in Russia will be ready in several months.
"I will make a report on the concept of the introduction of contractual army service in the Armed Forces at a government meeting on November 21," the minister told reporters on Monday.
"The concept was prepared by the Defense Ministry, and I think it will be adopted. I emphasize that this is a concept, not a plan for introducing contractual service, which will be ready in several months and not earlier, when serious economic calculations have been completed and specific military units have been examined," Ivanov said.
The plan for introducing contractual army service in the navy is only one of the elements of the reform of the Armed Forces, which has many stages and many aspects, he said.
"The determining factor in the introduction of contractual army service in the Russian Armed Forces will be the economic capabilities of the country. To want something is one thing, and to be able to do it is a different thing," Ivanov said.
"No one doubts that we should take this path. They are now saying that the top generals are against it, but that's not true. The officers of the Armed Forces understand very well that if we don't begin to do it now, the more we drag this out, the worse it will be for the army and the officers," he said.
The introduction of contractual army service is not a panacea, he said. "It can theoretically happen that the army will be fully contractual, but it won't make things better if it does not have any weapons and military training. What does it matter if the servicemen are on a contract or are conscripts if it won't make things more effective?" Ivanov said.