Putin: US and Russian defense costs are not comparable

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency, Vladimir Putin was quoted by “Tas” news agency. On Wednesday evening, during his visit to the Air Force Training Center of the Ministry of Defense in the city of Tarzhuk, the President of Russia talked about the difference in military spending in Russia and the United States, and referring to the report of domestic experts, he said: Russia’s defense spending in 2022 will amount to 3.5% of the GDP and according to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, this budget is 4% of the country’s GDP. According to the same data, Israel spent 4.5% of its GDP, the United States – 3.5%, and Ukraine – 33.5%.

Putin emphasized: “But in absolute terms, where is the difference? If I’m not mistaken, in 2022, the US spent $811 billion and Russia $72 billion in defense. The costs are almost 10 times different. In fact, almost 40% of the world’s military spending is spent in the United States. The United States spends almost 40% (more than 39%) of the defense costs in the whole world, and this figure for Russia is only 3.5%. If the third one flies, it will become a legitimate target. Vladimir Putin also commented on the issue of the supply of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by Western countries and said that the Russian armed forces will use any military equipment of the enemy, including They will destroy tanks, planes or fighters. He emphasized: “Even if Western countries give F-16 fighters to Ukraine, they cannot change the situation on the battlefield.” They will also destroy 16 Ukrainians at NATO airports, he said: Of course, if they take off from the airports of third countries to attack us, they will become a legal target for us. The question of whether fighters of this type can carry nuclear weapons will also be carefully considered and taken into account when organizing combat operations. And he read the basis

Vladimir Putin emphasized in the gathering of military pilots that Russia is not going to go to war with NATO and such a claim is simply baseless. Pointing out that Russia did not move towards the borders of NATO countries, the president reminded that NATO is even moving towards Asia and Latin America.

He said : “They arrived right at our border post. Was it us who moved towards their borders and the countries that are part of the NATO bloc? We had nothing to do with any of them, but they moved towards us. Did we go across the ocean to the borders of the United States? No, they got closer and closer to our borders.” Putin said: “The expansion of NATO takes place under various pretexts. It’s still the same – they promote NATO everywhere in the world and send their satellites there as well.”

Talk about Russia’s invasion of Europe “nonsense and to scare the people of Europe” The President of Russia said: The claim of a possible attack on Poland, the Baltic countries and the Czech Republic is baseless and absurd and is the only way to deceive the people of these countries. Russia has no aggressive intentions towards European countries. Putin pointed out that if the coup d’état and the military operation against the people of Donbas had not happened in Ukraine, Russia would never have done anything there.

Putin stated that the purpose of the special military operation is to protect the people living in the historical lands. Russia read and reminded that if Russia’s security interests were taken into account after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the conflict in Ukraine would not have occurred at all. He explained: “The current events would never have happened if only our interests in the field of security were considered. “We are talking about many years and many decades that our interests were completely ignored.” He noted the fact that after eight years of deception in the implementation of the Minsk agreements, Russia simply had to Shed turned to another form of protecting his interests, adding: “They started the war in 2014 [in Donbass]. They used only the air force to destroy the people of Donbass. Everyone saw the images of how the city of Donetsk was attacked by airplanes and this peaceful city was hit by missiles. The situation was crazy.”

Putin’s assurance of the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to the Russian armed forces

Vladimir Putin emphasized in a conversation with Russian military pilots that He does not hesitate to perform the duties assigned by the Russian Armed Forces. One of the soldiers thanked him and said that the Russian armed forces are loyal to their elected president and will implement all his orders. Putin also replied that he has no doubts about this. The Russian president also pointed to the courage of the Russian pilots and appreciated their professionalism and added: Everyone is doing a great job and a significant contribution to achieving have to win

Yesterday, Putin visited the State Center for Combat Use and Retraining of Flight Personnel No. 344 of the Ministry of Defense of Russia in the city of Tarzhuk, visited various attack helicopters and air equipment, and met with pilots who They are undergoing combat training in this center.

end of message/