Russia must achieve nuclear arms parity with the United States, Itar-Tass news agency quoted First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying today.
"Military potential, to say nothing of nuclear potential, must be at the proper level if we want ... to just stay independent," Tass quoted Mr Ivanov as saying.
"The weak are not loved and not heard, they are insulted, and when we have parity they will talk to us in a different way."
President Vladimir Putin has made toughly worded statements about a need to reassert Russia's role as a superpower in the international arena and boost its defences.
Mr Ivanov was speaking to veterans and members of Russia's military-industrial commission, which he heads and which is now marking its 50th anniversary.
He said every year Russia would be now commissioning six or seven of its newest "Topol-M" nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The missiles - the first developed by Russia after the 1991 demise of the Soviet Union -- can carry up to six warheads and are mounted on mobile launcher vehicles.