Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed 65-year-old former Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov to replace his long-term ally Sergei Shoigu as the new defense minister of the country. Mr Belousov, is an economist with little military experience. Mr. Putin wants Shoigu to become the secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, replacing incumbent Nikolai Patrushev, and to also have responsibilities for the military-industrial complex.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, the change made sense because Russia was approaching a situation like the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s, when the military and law enforcement authorities accounted for 7.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Peskov said, Mr. Putin wants a civilian economist in the defence ministry job as it was vital to ensure such spending aligned with and was better integrated into the country’s overall economy.