NICE, France. Feb 11 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia's measures aimed at modernizing its armed forces are guided by today's geopolitical realities and the need to enhance the country's defense capabilities, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told a news conference following a Russia-NATO Council session in Nice on Thursday.
"Vigorous processes of political and economic stabilization and development in all areas of public life that have been witnessed in our country for the past few years have made it possible to switch to an armed forces modernization campaign governed by today's geopolitical realities and defense needs, not our actual potential," Ivanov said.
"As a result, plans to finish structural reorganizations in the armed forces, start manning standby units and divisions by contract soldiers, equip troops with new and upgraded weapons and raise the quality of combat training have been put into practice," the minister said.
The inclusion of Russia's railways troops in the country's army has brought its numerical strength to 1.207 million servicemen and 876,000 civilian employees.