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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues,

Today we will hold he last in a series of meetings on Armed Forces development. We will discuss the progress in the development of advanced types of weapons.

Warfare has always been an area where the use of advanced research and technology is essential. Today, in the 21^st century, leading countries actively use the latest innovations in the development of the most promising weapons: lasers, hypersound and robotics.

Close attention is being paid to the development of the so-called weapons based on new physical principles, weapons that have selective, pinpoint impact on critical elements of armaments, equipment and infrastructure of the potential enemy.

Like other countries, Russia is also working on these developments. Yet, while designing and building advanced weapons systems, we have consistently and strictly complied with the relevant international obligations Russia once took on; however, unfortunately – we have also talked about this – certain countries have actually nullified previous agreements, such as those on missile defence. This is clearly done in an effort to gain unilateral advantages.

Therefore, I would like to say again: we will continue to do all we need to ensure the strategic balance of forces. We view any attempts to change or dismantle it, as extremely dangerous.

Let us recall once again that we are talking about the strategic balance of forces formed in the late 1940s-1950s, which allowed the world to avoid major armed conflicts.

Our task is to effectively neutralise any military threats to Russia's security, including those posed by the newly-deployed strategic missile defence systems, the implementation of the Global Strike Concept, and information warfare.

We will discuss today how the work is progressing on all of these issues. Let's begin.

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