Putin says Russia needs strong army

By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia needs to build up its armed forces and intelligence potential in the face of new security threats including U.S. military plans in Europe, President Vladimir Putin told his top brass on Wednesday.

"A comprehensive strengthening of the armed forces is one of our unquestionable priorities," Russian news agencies quoted Putin as telling a Kremlin meeting of top military and security service officers.

Lavish praise for the role of the Russian military and calls to build up national defence are traditional for such annual meetings at which the president announces new nominations and hands out new ranks to senior staff.

This time Putin said defence and security officials had new reasons to step up their efforts apart from threats caused by terrorism and local conflicts.

"There are a number of other global threats," he said. "The United States is becoming more active in pushing forward plans to deploy new bases in Eastern Europe; the ratification of the Conventional Forces (CFE) in Europe treaty has stalled."

Russia has threatened to pull out of the CFE pact, signed in 1990 to limit the number of heavy weapons deployed between the Atlantic Ocean and the Urals Mountains, accusing the Western partners of failing to ratify it.

NATO members refuse to ratify the CFE treaty, amended in 1999 to reflect new realities after the Soviet Union collapsed and its Eastern Bloc ceased to exist, until Russia meets its promise to withdraw troops from ex-Soviet Moldova.

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