Russia will "not only maintain fighting efficiency of the strategic nuclear forces but also develop and upgrade them," Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said in an exclusive interview to Itar-Tass and Channel I on Sunday, commenting on his negotiations with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

"The increased number of exercises has become an objective reality. This is one of the goals, because it is impossible to increase fighting efficiency of an army without exercises. The armed forces must be changing, because the world and threats are changing. We are increasing the number of the so-called special exercises," said the minister referring to the Security 2004 drill on the Kola Peninsula, "which trained the provision of nuclear security before the eyes of NATO observers for the first time ever," and exercises in Kyrgyzstan, "which focused on professionalism."

"There will be many other exercises of the Navy, the Air Force, the Army and the Strategic Missile Troops this year. The president gives very close attention to that," Ivanov said. "Being the minister, I would like even more exercises and better compliance of the armed forces�� fighting efficiency with modern challenges and threats, but we are still lacking funds and have many problems. However, there is positive dynamics in the development of the armed forces."

Ivanov said "the Pentagon does not react painfully" to the Russian exercises. The U.S. Department of Defense, same as any other defense ministry, "perfectly understands that it is impossible to have a modern army without regular training," he said. "They are doing the same all the time, and our reaction is calm. It is the most important not to target that against each other. This is really so nowadays: neither our exercises, nor exercises of the U.S. armed forces are as aggressive as they were in the Cold War period," Ivanov said.

Source: Agencies