Russia eyes threat of preemptive strike in its defense strategy

Russia must take into account the possibility of a preemptive nuclear strike against its interests and include it in its defense strategy, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.

"Not only the U.S. but also other countries are busy improving their offensive weapons, including middle-range missiles. Practically all our neighbors develop these systems," Putin told a meeting in one of the military enterprises in St. Petersburg, where the S-300 and Vityaz anti-aircraft systems are produced.

Putin called the air-space defense a pillar of the strategic containment capabilities in a time when the U.S. keeps to deploy their anti-missile shield.

"Some re-configuration is underway, we positively estimate these U.S. partners' steps. Still, they did not drop that program and this is the matter of time only," Putin stressed.

In his conversation with high-ranking military commanders, Putin described as "disputable" a decision made by the Soviet leadership over destroying the middle-range missiles.

"For the U.S., that system had not been crucial, they could not use it. But for the Soviet Union, for modern Russia, that decision was disputable, to say the least," Putin said, adding that now Moscow has to face the reality.

He urged the Defense Ministry and military-industrial complex to "run like clockwork", warning of personal responsibility of those who would hamper rearmament of the Russian Armed Forces.