ST. PETERSBURG, October 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's new military doctrine will be presented to President Dmitry Medvedev by the end of the year, the secretary of the Russian Security Council said Thursday.
Nikolai Patrushev told journalists that the document is a third version, replacing the doctrine in place since 2000. The first was used from 1993.
"We have to take into account that the situation in the country and the world is dynamically changing. In 1993 we said military conflicts are out of the question, but life shows that this is not true: there are regional and local conflicts, and large-scale ones are not impossible, so we must be ready for this," he told reporters.
Patrushev said earlier this month that the new military doctrine does not rule out preemptive nuclear strikes against potential aggressors.
"An option is stipulated for the possibility of using nuclear weapons, depending on the situation and the intentions of a potential enemy," he told the Izvestia newspaper. "In situations critical for national security, a nuclear strike, including a preventive one, against an aggressor is not ruled out."
He also told the paper that the adjustment of the country's military doctrine, the new version of which will be prepared and submitted to the Russian president for consideration by the end of the year, was prompted by real threats and dangers faced by Russia.
The current military doctrine outlines the role of the Russian military in ensuring the defense of the country and, if necessary, preparing for and waging war, although it stresses that the military doctrine is strictly defensive.
