Overview

• Russia’s defense expenditure surged to 6.3% of GDP, or about 13.5 trillion rubles ($172 billion), fueling inflation and widening deficits after the Ukraine invasion
• The planned reduction was unveiled at the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Minsk and positioned as a contrast to NATO’s agreement in The Hague to raise allied spending to 5% of GDP by 2035
• Putin accused Western nations of breaking security assurances on NATO expansion and of supporting separatist and terrorist movements targeting Russia
• He warned that NATO’s defense buildup would harm Western economies and deliver no real security benefits to member states
• Putin said Russia-Ukraine peace talks remain deadlocked because each side’s memorandum offers fundamentally contradictory proposals