Putin pledges to reduce Russia military spending this year

PIC: Russia President Vladimir Putin. (Credit: AFP)

POLITICS

RUSSIA - President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia would cut its military spending, a day after he won a presidential election with a landslide.

"We have plans to decrease our defence spending both this year and next. But this will not lead to any decline in the country's defence capacity," he said during a meeting with other candidates.

"We will not allow for any sort of arms race," he said.

Putin appeared to set the course for exactly that when he unveiled a new generation of "invincible" nuclear weapons during a state of the nation address earlier this month.

He presented Russia's military efforts as a response to recent actions by the US, which last month unveiled plans to revamp its nuclear arsenal and develop new low-yield atomic weapons.

The announcement came as relations between the global powers plummeted to levels not seen since the Cold War over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, and accusations that Moscow interfered in the US presidential election in 2016.

Since then, London has accused Moscow of being behind the killing of a former double agent on British soil, leading to tit-for-tat diplomat expulsions.

AFP