Vladimir Putin: We do not intend to get involved in a costly arms race
“We do not intend to get involved in an expensive arms race, Russia does not threaten anyone and is trying to resolve all disputed issues at the negotiating table. We will continue to do so, we will adhere to this particular policy, ”RIA quotes him. "News".
The President noted that now the situation has arisen when some countries “openly declare their geopolitical claims, do not stop at open interference in the internal affairs of independent states,” while continuing to increase and improve their military arsenals.
“Under these conditions, we are obliged to ensure reliable, guaranteed protection of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests of Russia. (...) When I say that many or some states pursue a different policy, namely the policy of coercive pressure, you all understand what it is about, we all see it with our own eyes over a long period of time, ”Putin added.
According to him, “all this is being done to the accompaniment of conversations about international law, about the desire to solve problems through negotiations.”
Putin quoted the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1871-1890), saying that "potentials are not intentions, but important."
“We see the potentials grow,” the Russian leader noted. According to him, the expenditures of Russia and the United States, as well as other states, on military needs are “incomparable values, simply incomparable”.
In 2013, the total military expenditures of NATO countries reached 1 trillion dollars, with about 600 billion falling to the United States, the military budget of the Russian Federation amounted to 68 billion dollars with a planned increase to 98 billion by next year.
- http://ria.ru/
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