Russia has decided to increase defense spending by two-thirds to face the Ukrainian counteroffensive and is already negotiating with Iran for the supply of long-range missiles, taking advantage of the fact that the UN resolution prohibiting such operations will soon expire.
The Russian Ministry of Finance reported today that it will increase military spending by 67.65% for 2024, which will amount to 10.8 trillion rubles ($111.87 billion).
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Kiev, who stressed that Ukraine is “gaining ground” and is “closer than ever” to the Atlantic Alliance.
Defense spending in 2024 – last year it amounted to 6.5 trillion rubles ($66.73 billion) – will be among the highest in the Russian budget, surpassed only by those on social policy, which Finance estimated at 20.7 trillion. rubles ($214.02 billion).
“The structure of the budget shows that the main emphasis is on ensuring our victory” in the war in Ukraine, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at the Moscow International Financial Forum.
The minister stressed that “the defense capabilities, the Armed Forces, the combatants: everything necessary for the front, everything necessary for victory is in the budget.”
“This represents a considerable burden on the budget, but it is our absolute priority,” he stressed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov also justified the growing military spending, noting that “it is absolutely necessary, as we continue in a state of hybrid war unleashed against us, (and) we continue the special military operation.”
“And that demands great expenses,” he concluded in his daily telephone press conference.
In addition, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported today in its daily analysis that, according to Ukrainian and Israeli intelligence sources, Russia is negotiating with Iran for the supply of long-range missiles, which would serve to counter the arrival of the ATACMS that US President Joe Biden promised Zelensky last week.
Russia would be interested in the Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles that have a range of 300 kilometers, but also in anti-missile systems, cruise and anti-tank missiles, as well as drones, which it has already received since the beginning of the conflict with Ukraine.
The ISW highlights that the UN resolution that prevented Tehran from exporting missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers or missile technology under the 2015 nuclear deal expires on October 18.
And remember that the Minister of Defense, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, already announced at the beginning of the month that Iran was willing to cooperate strategically and militarily “with all allied and independent countries.”
This matter would have been discussed with the Iranian regime during the visit to Tehran in mid-September by the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, who made a similar trip to North Korea in the summer.
The ATACMS, which also have about 300 kilometers of range, should arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks, although, according to US media, kyiv could receive modified models, which has not relieved the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, in a clear endorsement of the counteroffensive before the arrival of bad weather, Stoltenberg assured in Kiev that the Ukrainian forces “are advancing” and that “NATO will be with Ukraine for as long as necessary.”
“Every meter that Ukrainian forces recover is a meter that Russia loses,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a surprise visit to Kiev.
For his part, Zelensky insisted on the need to strengthen the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense to face the imminent Russian attacks against energy infrastructure coinciding with the arrival of the harsh winter.