MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax-AVN) - NATO Secretary General George Robertson has called on Russia to conduct a structural reform of its armed forces. He made this statement at a Monday meeting with Russian businessmen.
The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the European Business Club and the Interfax news agency organized the meeting with the assistance of the Russian Audit Chamber.
"The armed forces of NATO member-countries and Russia are hypertrophied. They were formed in view of a third world war. The armed forces are too big, costly and very expensive for our economies," he said.
The present-day task of armed forces is to withstand the threat of international terrorism and to hold joint peacekeeping operations, Robertson said. Armed forces need fewer draftees and more professionals, fewer tanks and more high-precision armaments, he said.
Russia and its industries can play a role in forming a new approach to the armed forces' problem, Robertson said.