Putin says Russia plans to cut military spending from 2026
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Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing economic headwinds, with a sharp slowdown in economic growth and higher inflation.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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- Putin claims Russia plans to cut military spending from 2026, contrasting this with Nato's increased defence spending plans which he says, "purchases from the USA".
- Despite Putin's claim, Russia's defence spending is currently at its highest level since the Cold War, reaching 6.3% of GDP in 2025.
- Putin acknowledged higher inflation due to increased military spending and mentioned ongoing contact between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators regarding the conflict.
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MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin said on June 27 that Russia was looking to cut its military expenditure from 2026, contrasting that with Nato’s plan to ramp up defence spending over the next decade.
Nato allies on June 25 agreed to raise their collective spending goal
In his first reaction to that move, Mr Putin told a press conference in Minsk that the Nato spending would go on “purchases from the US and on supporting their military-industrial complex”, and this was Nato’s business, not Russia’s.
“But, now, here is the most important thing. We are planning to reduce defence spending. For us, next year and the year after, over the next three-year period, we are planning for this,” he said.
Mr Putin said there was no final agreement yet between the defence, finance and economy ministries, “but overall, everyone is thinking in this direction. And Europe is thinking about how to increase its spending, on the contrary. So who is preparing for some kind of aggressive actions? Us or them?”
His comments are likely to be greeted with extreme scepticism in the West, given that Russia has massively increased defence spending since the start of the Ukraine war.
The conflict shows no sign of ending and has actually intensified in recent weeks, as negotiations have made no visible progress towards a ceasefire or a permanent settlement.
Mr Putin said Russia appreciated efforts by US President Donald Trump to bring an end to the war.
“He recently stated that it turned out to be more difficult than it seemed from the outside. Well, that’s true,” Mr Putin said.
Mr Trump said this week that he believed Mr Putin wanted to find a way to settle the conflict, but Ukraine and many of its European allies believe the Kremlin leader has no real interest in a peace deal and is intent on capturing more territory.
Ukrainian servicemen loading a shell into a howitzer as they fire towards Russian troops in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region on June 16.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mr Putin said Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were in constant contact, and Moscow was ready to return the bodies of 3,000 more Ukrainian soldiers.
Russia’s economic slowdown
Russia is seeing a sharp slowdown in economic growth
Russia hiked state spending on national defence by a quarter in 2025 to 6.3 per cent of GDP, the highest level since the Cold War. Defence spending accounts for 32 per cent of total 2025 federal budget expenditure.
Defence plants have been working round the clock for the past several years, and the state has spent heavily on bonuses to attract soldiers to sign up and on compensation for the families of those who were killed.
Mr Putin acknowledged that Russia had paid for the military spending increase with higher inflation.
The Finance Ministry raised the 2025 budget deficit estimate to 1.7 per cent of GDP in April from 0.5 per cent after reducing its energy revenues forecast by 24 per cent, and it plans to tap fiscal reserves in 2025 to balance the budget. The next draft budget is due to appear in autumn. REUTERS
