Russian leader warns of limits to defense spending

Addressing a meeting of top Russian Defense Ministry officials on Monday, Putin revealed that Moscow is currently spending 6.3% of its gross domestic product on defense.

“In order for all in the components of the country’s life – the economy, the social sphere in the broadest sense of the word, science, education, healthcare – to develop, we can’t increase these expenses infinitely,” the president said.

Putin noted that Russia’s current level of defense spending is still not as high as in some countries around the world not currently engaged in armed conflicts.

“Nevertheless, this is a lot of money, and we need to use it very reasonably,” he added, from payments to troops and the effective work of the military industry to supplying the military with equipment, weapons and ammunition.

“It is very important to receive everything on time, to correctly evaluate what is received, to be able to use it and to train personnel, to do it correctly and effectively,” Putin told the Russian Defense Ministry leadership.

While Russia will take measures to ensure the security of itself and its allies, this will be done “carefully and thoughtfully, without getting drawn into a full-scale arms race to the detriment of the social and economic development of our country”, the president explained.

Lessons of the military operation in Ukraine need to be applied to the defense industry, in terms of priorities for weapons development and the introduction of advanced technologies, Putin said, adding that the production of drones in particular needs to be increased.

During the meeting, Putin revealed that more than 430,000 Russians have enlisted voluntarily in the armed forces.

Strategic nuclear forces remain one of the key instruments for defending Russia’s sovereignty and their modernization has already reached 95%, the president stated. The new intermediate-range hypersonic missile, Oreshnik, can be as powerful as a nuclear weapon if used in volleys, but without any fallout, according to Putin.

The West’s support for Ukraine is pushing Russia to the point where it cannot help but retaliate, Putin said, while warning the US against deploying medium-range missiles.

He accused the US of seeking “to weaken our country and inflict a strategic defeat” on Moscow by continuing “to pump a de facto illegitimate ruling regime in Kiev with weapons and money, sending mercenaries and military advisers, thereby encouraging further escalation of the conflict”.

Washington is instilling fear in Americans by resorting to “simple tactics,” Putin stated.

“They push us to the red line… we begin to respond, and then they frighten their population,” he added, suggesting that the US used the same approach during its rivalry with the Soviet Union.

The Russian president also slammed the West for what he described as attempts to impose its own rules on the rest of the world while waging “hybrid wars” against anyone who resists, including Russia.

In this vein, NATO is boosting its defense spending and forming “strike groups” near Russia’s borders, he continued.

“The number of American service members in Europe has already exceeded 100,000 troops,” he noted.