(MENAFN- UkrinForm) For the current year, the Russian Federation has planned USD 120 billion in its budget for the army. Therefore, if we consider strengthening the combat capabilities of NATO countries, the 2% of GDP programmed for armaments is not much at all.
According to Ukrinform, Vladyslav Selezniov, a reserve colonel of the Ukrainian Navy, said this on Ukrainian Radio .
"Here we need to understand what goal we want to achieve. It is not for nothing that many well-known Western experts and politicians emphasize that collective Europe has 3 to 6-8 years before the first armed clash between the Russian army and the army of the countries that are members of the North Atlantic Alliance. That is, if we look at strengthening the combat capabilities of NATO countries through this prism, then of course, 2% of GDP for armaments is not much," Selezniov said.
According to him, the Russian Federation has planned USD 120 billion in its budget for the army this year, which is a lot of money, and Putin does not hide his plans at all.
"Putin is delusional. He is dreaming about signing the second Yalta agreement on the redivision of the world. And I think he will continue to work on this case. Therefore, the resources that should be directed to make the armies of NATO countries more powerful should be quite serious and large-scale," the reserve colonel said.
The military expert believes that this is also important against the backdrop of Donald Trump's statements, a highly likely presidential candidate, about the US withdrawal from NATO. Therefore, the countries of the alliance "may find themselves face to face with the threat posed by Moscow and its satellites."
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Regarding the outcome of the 19th Ramstein meeting, Seleznev expressed his opinion on the "encouraging news": "At the end of the Ramstein meeting, we did not hear specific figures on the volume and timing of artillery weapons and ammunition deliveries. But I hope that this was done solely with the aim of making the enemy know as little as possible, and all these processes are contracted and discussed behind the scenes. So I think we will have the appropriate resources."
As reported, after the 19th meeting in the Ramstein format, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that representatives of the defense ministries of 15 countries had signed an agreement in Brussels to create a new Coalition of Capabilities - an integrated air and missile defense.
Photo: epa
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