MOSCOW, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that defense programs must be reasonable and not become heavy burden for the country's economy and social sphere.
Putin told a meeting in the Security Council that the government plans to spend half of the funds allocated for defense on the armed forces' everyday maintenance and the other half on their development, urging the government to submit an update national defense plan by 2015.
He said Russia must take into account the effect of precise weapons onto possible armed conflicts in its military planning.
"Precise weapons, in effect, doesn't yield to strategic weapons in terms of its capabilities, which affects global power balance," Putin said, adding that Russia also must counter militarization of outer space and cyberspace as well as special operations.
Meanwhile, Russia must be able to respond adequately on "soft power" use by other countries, he said.
"There is an entire complex of traditional and new threats," Putin noted, adding the armed forces must be capable of preventing any potential aggression, force pressure and blackmail.
Moscow plans to spend some 20 trillion rubles (about 600 billion U.S. dollars) on defense until 2020.
People enjoy time at old teahouse in Kashgar, NW China's Xinjiang