President of Russia plans to spend $400 billion through 2020 to modernize Russian armed forces 12906151

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Defence & Security News - Russia
 
President of Russia plans to spend $400 billion through 2020 to modernize Russian armed forces.
Putin's plan aims to spend 22 trillion rubles (over $400 billion) through 2020 to give the Russian armed forces dozens of navy ships, hundreds of new planes and missiles and thousands of tanks and other weapons. Russia needs a mighty military to fend off threats near its borders, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, in a stance that reflects soaring tensions with the West over the crisis in Ukraine.
     
Putin's plan aims to spend 22 trillion rubles (over $400 billion) through 2020 to give the armed forces dozens of navy ships, hundreds of new planes and missiles and thousands of tanks and other weapons. Russia needs a mighty military to fend off threats near its borders, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, in a stance that reflects soaring tensions with the West over the crisis in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, takes part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside Moscow’s Kremlin Wall, in Moscow, Russia, Monday, June 22, 2015, to mark the 74th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. (AP)
     
Speaking at Thursday's Kremlin meeting with graduates of Russian military academies, Putin also vowed to continue a sweeping military modernization effort that envisions the purchase of large numbers of new weapons.

Putin added that Russia has no aggressive intentions and aims to "settle any disputes exclusively by political means with respect to international law and interests of other nations."

The Russian leader, whose approval ratings reached an all-time high this month despite a bruising recession, said a "powerful army equipped with modern weapons is the guarantor of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia."

By the other way, military spending by NATO countries is set to fall again this year in real terms despite increased tensions with Russia and a pledge by alliance leaders last year to halt falls in defense budgets, NATO figures released on Monday showed.

The figures showed defense spending by the 28 members of the alliance is set to fall by 1.5 percent in real terms this year after a 3.9 percent fall in 2014.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said 18 allies were set to raise defense spending this year in real terms, but the total was lower, continuing a trend of declining military spending, especially by European NATO allies.