OREANDA-NEWS. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday will hold the final of a series of meetings with the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and enterprises of the military-industrial complex (MIC).

As previously reported by the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov, the traditional May series of defense meetings that started on Tuesday in Sochi will be three-day and will end on May 27. According to him, the participants of these events traditionally also "use these days for independent contacts and mini-meetings with the president."

The introductory meeting on Tuesday was devoted to the main directions of the development of the armed forces for the long term. On Wednesday, the meeting was devoted to the implementation of the state defense order. According to Peskov, the head of state holds " separate meetings with military leaders who are still in Sochi on the occasion of the meetings."

The head of state traditionally gathers in Sochi twice a year the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, key enterprises of the military-industrial complex, as well as the chief designers of these enterprises. At the same time, in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Putin did not hold spring defense meetings. In July, the president held a number of meetings, including with Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, who oversees the defense industry ,and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The autumn series of defense meetings was held in Sochi in full-time format in November 2020. At that time, a set of issues related to the state and prospects for the development of Russia's strategic nuclear forces was discussed. In particular, they discussed the progress of equipping the armed forces with new strategic nuclear weapons control systems, as well as the state of the global arms control system.