Russia announced this Thursday a strong increase in the defense budgetof no less than 70%, to face what he described as “hybrid war” in Ukrainejust as Western allies are in kyiv, debating calls for more military aid from that country.
Ukraine, engaged in a laborious counteroffensive since June, considers that it needs more help from its partners to repel the Russian invasion, which in its opinion is a threat to all of Europe. The West, for its part, is considering continuing to collaborate, given the few war results.
In this context, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyreceived NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the French and British Defense Ministers in kyiv.
In Moscow, the Kremlin announced a increase in the 2024 Defense budget by 68%up to 10.8 billion rubles, US$112,000 million to the current change. According to Russia, the West, with its support for Ukraine, is waging a “hybrid war” against Russia.
“It is evident that this increase is necessary, absolutely necessary, because we are in a state of hybrid warfare“Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told the press. “I am referring to the hybrid war that is being waged against us, and that requires high spending,” he emphasized.
Defense will thus account for around 30% of total federal spending in 2024 and 6% of GDP, something unusual in the history of post-Soviet Russia.
This volume of public spending illustrates Russia’s determination to continue its campaign in Ukrainelaunched in February 2022. Currently, and after a series of setbacks last year, the Russian army is entrenched in eastern and southern Ukraine.
According to kyiv’s Western allies, Russia has launched an imperialist war in Ukraine, and support for the government of Zelensky It is essential to confront Moscow’s ambitions.
From the Ukrainian capital, and together with the president Zelensky, Stoltenberg thus denounced Moscow’s “imperialist delusions,” and stated that Ukrainians “fight for their families” and “their freedom.”
The head of the Atlantic Alliance welcomed the recent progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, although limited in both the east and the south.
“Their forces are advancing. They are facing fierce fighting, but they are gaining ground little by little,” Stoltenberg said.
The Norwegian highlighted that since the beginning of the conflict, a coalition of about 50 countries has promised around $100 billion in military aid to Ukraine, half of it from the United States.
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Anti-aircraft means to avoid running out of energy in winter
Zelensky He insisted that his country needs more anti-aircraft means to confront “Russian attacks against energy infrastructure.” The president fears that, like last year, Moscow will attack these areas to leave millions of Ukrainians cold and in the dark.
“The secretary general agreed to make efforts to help us” and “mobilize the members of the alliance,” he said. Zelensky.
The French Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu, arrived in Kiev on Thursday accompanied by representatives of companies in the sector, to talk about the evolution of French aid to Ukraine and industrial collaborations within the framework of a conflict that is likely to last.
The Ukrainian Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, also received his British counterpart Grant Shapps, and said he was “concentrated” on the issue of anti-aircraft defense, artillery and anti-drone systems, which Kiev so needs.
“Winter is coming, but we are ready. Together we are stronger,” Umerov wrote on the X network, formerly known as Twitter.
Regarding the project of Ukraine’s accession to NATO, Zelensky He insisted that it is a “matter of time.”
Stoltenberg said Ukraine is “closer to NATO than ever”although no accession schedule has been announced.
For Moscow, the prospect of its neighbor joining NATO is a red line. President Vladimir Putin He justified the offensive launched in February 2022 in the desire that, according to him, NATO has to use Ukraine as a spearhead to contain Moscow.
Source: Ambito
