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Russia to be close to no one in military technical cooperation — Putin

According to the president, risks of cooperation of Russian defense industry enterprises with foreign suppliers has to be reduced

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Russia will be close to no one in terms of military technical cooperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday at a meeting of the military industrial commission.

He reminded that Russia would host an international forum Army-2015 in June. This forum, according to Putin, is seen as another format for dialogue between Russia and foreign partners. "And in this sphere, we are close to no one, and are not going to be," the president underscored, adding that this forum would make it possible to make yet another step on the path of military technical cooperation with other countries.

According to the president, risks of cooperation of Russian defense industry enterprises with foreign suppliers has to be reduced.

"Risks of this dependence and risks of this cooperation need to be reduced. The entire chain of production of strategically important materials, components, equipment, up to delivery to the end consumer, should be localized," Putin said at a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission.

"In the domestic defense industry sector, dependence on external suppliers occasionally remains. If the international situations gets complicated, these sections may fail," the president warned.

He said nearly all planned tasks of the state defense order were fulfilled in 2014, and that the first quarter of 2015 "ended with a positive result."

Putin said that today it is extremely important to not only replace outdated production lines but also develop promising import-substituting specimens of military hardware.

The head of state added that import substitution in the defense industry sector is "a serious challenge to be addressed by senior managers, engineers, designers, entrepreneurs and scientists."

Putin said he is convinced that such a policy should become an impetus for new scientific developments and technological solutions. The president said this would have effect for the civilian sector as well.