Sergei Ivanov Quotations

We are also ready for an immediate start to official talks with the United States on SALT 3.

Lowering the threshold for use of atomic weapons is in itself dangerous,

less worried now, than at the beginning of the year, that either side could take measures of some sort liable to endanger security.

Many terrorists who have committed terrible crimes in the past and who operated in Chechnya are staying in Georgia now and of course they are full of new plans for terrorist operations. All that is taking place just 10 to 20 kilometers from the Russia state border, so we can't sit and watch those activities indifferently.

Six of the criminals were eliminated, ... From the reports on the ground, all of the hostages were released.

Neither Peace Mission-2005 nor Indra-2005 posed a threat to any third countries. They did not demonstrate any plans to form a new international military-political bloc in the region either. Their main goal was to practice joint anti-terror operations,

If the ABM Treaty is maintained, Russia is ready for radical cuts with the United States of strategic offensive weapons to as low as 1,500 and even lower than this level,

If such proposals come -- we have not yet received them -- I am sure that they will not solve the ABM issue,

There is no better advertisement for our arms and military hardware than a real demonstration of their capabilities in the course of practical exercises,

there are sufficient forces in the region to stop such attacks.

It is a different kind of war, where you cannot see your enemy and where there is no front line, but nonetheless this is an entirely real threat, ... Russia is not the only country that faces this new threat.

Restraining the so-called rogue nations -- to use the American terminology -- may be carried out more effectively from the point of view of both expense and consequences by means of common political effort,

Such plans do not limit, but in fact promote efforts by others to develop (nuclear weapons),

The 54-billion-ruble (some 1.9 billion US dollars) surplus will be used for development purposes and acquisition of advanced equipment,

We have a history of knowing what Afghanistan is.

We believe Europeans' striving to have their own forces to ensure their security and to eliminate crisis situations is well founded, and are prepared to act together with them in these matters,

We should reduce the number of generals and admirals to maintain the ratio of one senior officer per thousand servicemen.

We offered the United States our help the first day of the disaster,

We have effective nuclear weapons, and we are not trying to increase their number but rather to improve their quality and effectiveness, to make them hard to intercept.

At the current time, we have an organized pursuit to find the remaining criminals,

There should be no doubt that the government will officially approve of the defense contract in December,

The transfer of a Russian aircraft group to Sudan to join the peacekeeping operation under the auspices of the UN will begin in three days.

The situation in North Korea is the obvious example because the situation a year ago seemed much worse than today.

Russia's proposal to enrich uranium on its territory remains on the negotiating table.

Russia has no intentions to increase its military presence in the northwest.

Against the background of the conflict, Pakistan's testing of nuclear rockets was a provocative gesture,

A final decision will also depend on the extent to which international standards are upheld in Iraq, ... taking a dangerous turn, which worries Russia.

A scrupulous investigation into the accident has been conducted within a month's time, as was promised. It was established that outrageous violation of the instructions by senior officials of the Russian Pacific Fleet was the main cause of wrong 'swimming and diving rounds'

They have been unified and are to be supplied both to the Strategic Missile Forces and the Navy.

This means that about 35,000 men of the non-combat personnel will be laid off within the next five years, including some staff members of military chairs and other dual-purpose structures. It is also planned to do away with three hundred high-rank command posts, after which the number of generals and admirals in the Armed Forces will not top 1,100 men, meaning their reduction to the optimal proportion of one per thousand servicemen,

The Northern Alliance still has a great number of Pakistani prisoners-of-war, ... the Pakistani administration decided to change its attitude towards helping the Taliban.

The agreement on the Black Sea fleet base is one part of a bilateral treaty, the second part of which contains recognition of mutual borders. Trying to revise the treaty would be fatal.

Nothing terrible happened, we all saw that and we all had sufficient time to react. Thank God we are not blind.

Around the end of January 2006 we shall send a group of ships from our Black Sea fleet to take part,

The cornerstone of strategic stability is the 1972 ABM Treaty, ... The treaty created the possibility for predictability in the nuclear sphere and progress on the way towards nuclear disarmament not only for the USSR and the United States, but also the whole world.

India has accepted our proposal to hold exercises next year, this time in Russia and in a broader format that involves several other countries, including NATO members the United States , Britain and France,

India and China are our strategic partners and we cooperate with them on a very wide range of questions, ... Three-sided exercises are possible in principle but then we should have to then move to the SCO.

I know about the incident. The General Staff and the chief-of-staff have launched an investigation and we will announce its results when it is completed.

I'd really like to do it. I've heard a lot of good stories from my team-mates.

I believe it is total rubbish...without using the proper American word starting with 'bull'.

We have put the Cold War behind us. We no longer count our divisions and our warheads. And I am Russia's first civilian defense minister in many centuries. We have become more pragmatic.

When it comes to culture, religion and mentality, most Russians identify with Europe.

Because of its huge territory, Russia must devote a great deal of attention to security.

Russia sees itself as a country that is self-sufficient.

The Baltic countries are sovereign nations. They have the right to decide which military and political bloc they want to be a part of.

It is painful to talk about it, but even with its 110,000 elite soldiers, the Soviet Union never managed to gain control over the entire Afghan territory.

Moscow has been helping the Northern Alliance because the Taliban was openly supported by Pakistan, .. until last week, Pakistani servicemen had taken part in war operations on the Taliban side.

The destruction of the 1972 ABM Treaty will result in the annihilation of the whole structure of strategic stability and create prerequisites for a new arms race including one in outer space,

The level of preparedness at the present time has allowed making several successful launches from positional areas, air and sea missile carriers. Early warning systems have timely detected all launches of Russian and foreign inter-continental ballistic missiles and carrier rockets,