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The meeting discussed the Armed Forces’ performance in 2000 and their short-term objectives.

Mr Putin said that the priority tasks for the Army and Navy included strategic deterrence and the prevention of any kind of aggression against Russia. According to the President, it was equally important to deploy and install level-readiness groups in the South-Western and Central Asian strategic areas by 2006.

Summing up the results of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya in 2000, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief stated that though the main body of Chechen militants had been defeated, illegal militant had still not been completely eliminated.

In his speech, the President also touched upon the problem of financing the Armed Forces until 2010, stating that the funds have been allocated by year and expense items.

According to Mr Putin, the system for paying benefits to servicemen has become obsolete and inefficient. The President also criticised the Finance Ministry, which was in charge of creating mechanisms to guarantee the payment of such benefits.

Mr Putin instructed Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov to work on mechanisms for converting the non-monetary benefits and payments due to servicemen into wages and money allowances out of the federal budget. The President also instructed him to establish a joint commission to solve this problem.