Russian President Vladimir Putin argued at a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission that Ukraine’s administration did not want peace talks. Putin said Russia was ready to cooperate with Europe and had no aggressive intentions toward European countries.
Putin said the meeting’s agenda included the new State Armament Program and a program to develop the defense industry. He stated that these efforts would form the basis for developing and mass-producing modern weapons systems and military equipment for the Russian army and other security forces.
Putin criticizes European leaders
Putin said NATO had expanded and that some European leaders had openly discussed preparing for war with Russia. He argued that these leaders were trying to regain declining public support caused by mistakes in their economic and social policies, and claimed that the will of European voters who did not want war with Russia was being ignored.
Putin said European leaders were using the situation in Ukraine to raise tensions and claimed that Ukrainians were being turned into “cannon fodder” in the process. He argued that Ukraine’s administration could not defend democracy and European values and claimed that the country’s government had become a dictatorship.
Putin claimed that no elections were being held in Ukraine and that the administration had been taken over by people whom he accused of corruption and who viewed the war as a means of remaining in power. He alleged that these people needed the war to continue in order to retain control over support coming from Europe.
Accusations against Ukraine’s administration
Putin also claimed that Ukraine’s administration was trying to disrupt elections in Russia. He said an attack had been carried out on the home of the head of an election commission in the village of Oktyabrskoye in the Zaporizhzhia region. Putin said the commission head, Yelena Astanina, had been killed.
Putin said Ukraine’s administration was calling for peace and proposing that negotiations resume on the one hand, while obstructing the talks through similar actions on the other. He said this had led him to conclude that the Kyiv administration did not want negotiations.
Russia’s message to Europe
Putin said European countries were invoking the alleged threat from Russia to justify their spending related to the war in Ukraine. “Russia has no aggressive intentions toward Europe or European countries,” he said. He stated that Moscow was ready to restore relations with its European neighbors.
Putin also addressed the latest military exercises in the Baltic Sea and claimed that preparations had been made during the exercises to seize civilian vessels. He argued that these preparations contradicted European countries’ positions on developments in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Nuclear triad to be a priority in new program
Putin said the new State Armament Program would be prepared by taking into account developments in the global security environment, the experience of the military operation in Ukraine and global trends in military technology. He identified strengthening the nuclear triad as a primary objective.
Putin said the nuclear triad guaranteed Russia’s sovereignty and played a fundamental role in maintaining the global balance of power. He stated that the share of modern weapons in the inventory of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces had reached 92 percent.
Putin said the program would place particular emphasis on developing air defense systems, unmanned and robotic complexes for various purposes, and high-precision weapons. He stated that the orbital group of space vehicles would be completed.
Putin said these efforts would increase capacity for space exploration, navigation, satellite communications, and broadband internet access for the real-time management of troops and weapons. He said work on advanced digital technologies and artificial intelligence would continue, and that the subsequent part of the meeting continued behind closed doors.
