Russia must improve its space defences as well as modernize its nuclear arsenal by 2020, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in comments released on Wednesday.

"In accordance with the plan for the development and reconfiguration of the armed forces, special attention, of course, will be paid to nuclear deterrent forces, space and air defences," he said.

Putin made the comments at a meeting late Tuesday devoted to implementing an ambitious Kremlin plan to rearm Russia's military between 2011 and 2020, according to a statement on the government's website.

Putin also said the military should have high-tech communications equipment and that Russia should finish building a fifth-generation fighter jet.