Russia 'needs to be' ready for 'large-scale conflicts'

Secretary of Russia's National Security Council Nikolai Patrushev says the country should be ready for "large-scale conflicts".

"In 1993, we said that military conflicts have been ruled out, but life has shown this is not the case," AFP quoted Patrushev, as saying on Thursday.

"There have been regional and local conflicts, and we cannot rule out large-scale conflicts and we need to be ready for this," he added.

Patrushev made the comments while discussing a new version of Russia's military doctrine, which officials have been drafting in recent months.

Last week, Patrushev said the new doctrine would allow Russia to carry out a "preventative" nuclear strike against would-be aggressors.