Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday introduced a bill to parliament that would strengthen an existing law on the use of the Russian armed forces against enemies abroad, the Kremlin said.
Medvedev said that the change was linked to last year's war with Georgia, after which Moscow declared the rebel Georgian region of South Ossetia to be an independent state.
The Kremlin said in a statement on its website that the amendments proposed by Medvedev amounted to additions to the existing law "on defence".
"The bill is aimed at creating the legal mechanism allowing the president to use the armed forces in operations outside Russia's borders," it said.
The amendments would create the legal basis to allow the armed forces to be used abroad for "rebuffing or preventing aggressions on other states" and "protecting citizens of Russia abroad", the Kremlin said.
"This is linked to the well known events that happened last year," said Medvedev. Russia has repeatedly accused Georgia of starting the 2008 war by launching an unprovoked attack on South Ossetia.
"These questions need to be properly addressed. We very much hope that these events do not happen again but the issues need to be addressed," he added, according to the Interfax news agency.
The amendments would also allow the armed forces to act abroad to fight piracy and ensure the security of shipping, the Kremlin said.
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