RUSSIALINK: “Putin denies militarization of Russian economy, says ‘everyone trying to nibble will be kicked in teeth'” – Interfax

MOSCOW. May 20 (Interfax) – The Russian economy is not being militarized, however, anyone trying to encroach on its territory will receive a harsh response, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

“The same thing has happened now and always: as soon as Russia gets stronger, a pretext is found to limit its development. As one of our emperors once said, ‘Everyone is afraid of our vastness,'” Putin said at a meeting of the Russian Pobeda (Victory) Organizing Committee.

Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union and “the loss of a third of its potential, Russia is still too big for some,” Putin said. “Indeed, our potential is colossal, our territory is the world’s largest, and there are 146 million people, which doesn’t seem to be too many compared to countries with a population of hundreds of millions or even over a billion, but it’s still considered a lot. Some even dare say in public that it is allegedly unfair that the riches of such regions such as Siberia belong to Russia, just one country. It’s strange to hear such things, especially in public, but they’re still said sometimes,” he said.

“Everyone wants to bite us or nibble on us, but they, those who are trying to do this, must know we will kick them in the teeth, and they won’t be able to bite anymore. That’s clear. The development of our Armed Forces is the token of this,” Putin said.

At the same time, the president said that Russia “has not taken a path of militarizing its economy.”

“We have been able to maintain our Armed Forces at the proper level without militarizing the budget. This is how we will proceed,” Putin said.

The national defense budget amounts to 3.116 trillion rubles in 2021, Putin said. “At the current exchange rate… that’s about $42 billion. Just $42 billion. The United States spends over $770 billion,” he said.

Russia is at the bottom of the list of the top ten countries with the largest defense budgets, Putin said.

“Not only the United States, China, India, and Saudi Arabia, but also all leading European nations, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, are ahead of us. Even such countries as Japan are also spending a bit more than Russia on national defense, although they don’t have an army by constitution, but they’re still spending more,” he said.