Russia’s military can overpower any foe, Putin boasts

MOSCOW – Russia‘s military today can overpower any potential foe, President Vladimir Putin told an annual end-of-year meeting Thursday with defence chiefs.

“We can say with certainty: We are stronger now than any potential aggressor,” he told the meeting. “Anyone!”

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His comments come at the end of a year when tensions between Russia and the West have remained on edge over the civil war in Syria.

Tensions between Russia and the West have been souring ever since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and surreptitious support of separatists in eastern Ukraine. Relations dipped further after Russia last year launched an air offensive in Syria to support President Bashar Assad.

Both Russia and NATO members have conducted a flurry of military drills near Russia’s borders this year. Russia insists it is responding to a growing NATO threat.

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Speaking at the defence ministry’s headquarters in Moscow, Putin said Russia should be swift in “adjusting plans to neutralize potential threats to our country.”

Putin spoke after Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu presented an annual report that lauded Russian military achievements in Syria and ongoing efforts to modernize the army.

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Shoigu said Russia has fully covered the Russian border with early warning anti-missile systems for the first time. He complained about increased NATO drone flights in border areas and announced plans to send more troops to Russia’s west, southwest and the Arctic.

Analysts say Russia’s military forces remain materially weaker than NATO armies but are gaining technological ground, aided by Putin’s aggressive command.

Igor Sutyagin, a senior research fellow at London’s Royal United Services Institute think-tank , said the Russian military was not the world’s strongest. But he said Russian military performance was improving in part because Putin wields more control over his military compared to NATO nations.

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“The lack of restrictions makes them better equipped for combat,” he said. “They are stronger because if Putin wants to use them, he doesn’t ask advice. He doesn’t come to Parliament or to Capitol Hill.”

In its annual report on the global military balance, Britain’s International Institute for Strategic Studies noted that Russia’s use of new cruise missile designs in Syria and other recent military displays showed that it was catching up with the West on advanced weapons systems.

Putin thanked the defence ministry for its work but cautioned that “the situation might change very quickly (if) … we let ourselves relax even for a moment.”

Associated Press reporter Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this story.