Russia is working on new nuclear missile systems that other powers do not have in order to protect itself against future security challenges, President Vladimir Putin said today.
President Vladimir Putin
Mr Putin, speaking to armed forces chiefs, said although international terrorism was one of Russia's main security threats the country had also to keep its nuclear defences in sound condition.
"We know that we have only to weaken our attention to such components of our defences as the nuclear-missile shield, and new threats to us could appear," Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying.
He said research and successful testing of new nuclear-missile systems technology was being conducted.
"I am sure that in the near future weapons will appear... which other nuclear powers do not and will not possess," he said.
Mr Putin gave no further detail about what type of weapons he was referring to or what shape these new security threats could take.