Putin: Russia plans to cut military spending from next year

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia plans to cut military spending from next year, contrasting this with plans by NATO, which has announced an increase in military spending over the next decade.

NATO members agreed on Wednesday to raise their collective defense spending target to five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over the next decade, citing the long-term threat posed by Russia and the need to strengthen civilian and military resilience.

In his first reaction to the decision, Putin told a press conference in Minsk that NATO member states' spending would be spent mainly on "purchases from the United States and support for its military-industrial complex," stressing that this was "their business, not ours."

“But now the most important thing: we plan to reduce defense spending. We plan it for next year and the year after, within a three-year period,” Putin said.

He stressed that a final agreement between the defense, finance and economy ministries has not yet been reached, “but in general, everyone is thinking in that direction.”

“And Europe, on the other hand, is thinking about how to increase its spending. So who is actually preparing for aggressive actions — us or them?” the Russian president said.

This statement will probably be met with a great deal of suspicion by the West, according to analysts, given that Russia has massively increased military spending since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine still shows no signs of ending soon, and the conflicts have intensified further in recent weeks, while negotiations have not brought visible progress towards a ceasefire or a permanent solution.

Putin stressed that Russia appreciates the efforts of US President Donald Trump in trying to end the war.

“He recently said that it turned out to be much more difficult than it seemed from the outside. And that’s true,” the Russian president said.

Trump recently said he believes Putin wants to find a solution to the conflict, but Ukrainian authorities and many European allies believe that the Kremlin leader has no sincere interest in a peace agreement, but is trying to seize more territory.

Putin stressed that Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are in constant contact, and that Moscow is ready to hand over the bodies of about 3,000 more Ukrainian soldiers who died.

At the same time, the Russian economy is experiencing a slowdown in growth, as the budget is under pressure from reduced energy revenues, while the central bank is trying to curb inflation.

Russia increased military spending by a quarter this year, to 6.3 percent of GDP, the highest level since the end of the Cold War. These allocations make up as much as 32 percent of total budget expenditures for 2025.

Russia’s defense industry has been operating at full capacity in recent years, with the state investing heavily in bonuses for military recruits and compensation for the families of those killed.

Putin acknowledged that rising military spending has led to higher inflation.

Russia’s Finance Ministry in April raised its budget deficit estimate for 2025 to 1.7 percent of GDP, from an earlier estimate of 0.5 percent, after energy revenue was cut by 24 percent. The government plans to use fiscal reserves this year to maintain budget stability.