MOSCOW, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. policy of preserving the world leadership is a real threat to Russia's national security, the Russian military chief of staff, Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky said on Friday.

    Baluyevsky made the remarks at a meeting of the Academy of Military Sciences on national military policy.

    The U.S. military leadership's course aimed at maintaining its global leadership and expanding its economic, political and military presence in Russia's traditional zones of influence is the most real threat to the national security of Russia in the short term, Baluyevsky said.

    The "realization of plans of further NATO enlargement, military forceful actions of the west in violation of the generally recognized principles of international law also poses a threat to Russian security, the general added.

    According to him, the "spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, means of their delivery and the newest military production technologies in combination with attempts of individual countries, organizations and terrorist groups to realize their military and political aspirations" are real threats to national security.

    Besides, "the activity of international terrorist organizations should be reckoned among a special group of military threats to Russia, he said, adding it is not a secret that in the present context, terrorism has become a long-term factor in modern political life, which is a relatively persistent and developing occurrence in society.