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MOSCOW, Dec. 22-- Russia should have the best armed forces in face of the "aggressive" plans of the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday. "Russia should be among the leading states, and in some areas -- the absolute leader in building the army of a new generation, the army of the new technological era," Putin said at a meeting of senior Defense Ministry officials. "This is of utmost importance for ensuring our sovereignty, peace and security of our citizens, for a confident development of the country and for an open and independent foreign policy in the interests of our country," he said. He called the new security strategy recently outlined by the U.S. Administration "offensive" and "aggressive", saying that the Russian military should take this into account in their practical work. He said that although Russian nuclear forces had a level that provided "reliable strategic deterrence", they should be developed further. By 2021, the Russian ground-based nuclear forces should be 90 percent equipped with new missile systems that can confidently overcome existing and prospective missile defense systems, Putin said. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the meeting that the budget of Russia's defense spending in 2018 will amount to 46 billion U.S. dollars, 2.8 percent of its gross domestic product. Russia's military spending in 2017 was set at 3.05 trillion rubles (about 52 billion U.S. dollars), equaling 3.3 percent of the GDP, according to the 2017 federal budget. | 
