Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to reestablish cooperation with European countries and had no aggressive intentions toward them. The Russian president also claimed at the same meeting that the Ukrainian administration was deliberately blocking peace negotiations.
Putin said the new State Armament Program and the program for developing the defense industry would be discussed at the meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission. He stated that these plans would provide the basis for developing and serially producing modern weapons systems and military equipment for the Russian army and other security agencies.
Putin criticizes European leaders
Putin claimed that NATO was continuing its expansion and that some European leaders had openly said they were preparing for war with Russia. He argued that these leaders were trying to restore 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 escalate tensions and claimed that Ukrainians had been turned into “cannon fodder” in the process. He said the Ukrainian administration could not defend democracy and European values, and argued that the country’s leadership had turned into a dictatorship.
Putin said no elections were being held in Ukraine and claimed that the administration had been seized by people whom he accused of seeing the continuation of the war as a means of staying in power and of corruption. He alleged that these people needed the war to retain control over support coming from Europe.
Claim of an attack in Zaporizhzhia
Putin also claimed that the Ukrainian administration was trying to prevent 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, adding that the commission head, Yelena Astanina, had been killed.
Putin alleged that while the Ukrainian administration was calling for peace and proposing the resumption of negotiations on one hand, it was blocking the talks through similar actions on the other. He said he had concluded that Kyiv did not want negotiations.
Russia’s message to Europe
Putin said European countries were using rhetoric about threats from Russia to justify their spending on the war in Ukraine. “Russia has no aggressive intentions toward Europe or European countries,” Putin said, adding that Moscow was ready to reestablish relations with its European neighbors.
Putin also addressed recent military exercises in the Baltic Sea, claiming that preparations had been made during the exercises to seize civilian vessels. He argued that there was a contradiction between those preparations and the position of European countries toward developments in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Priority for the nuclear triad
Putin said the new State Armament Program would be prepared by taking into account developments in the global security environment, experience gained from Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and global trends in military technologies. He identified strengthening the nuclear triad as a primary objective.
Describing the nuclear triad as a guarantee of Russia’s sovereignty and a fundamental element in preserving the global balance of power, Putin said the share of modern weapons in the inventory of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces had reached 92 percent.
Putin said the program would give particular attention to developing air defense systems, unmanned and robotic systems for various purposes, and precision-guided weapons. He added that the orbital constellation consisting of spacecraft would be completed.
Putin said these efforts would increase capacity for broadband internet access to support space exploration, navigation, satellite communications, and the real-time management of troops and weapons. He said work on developing advanced digital technologies and artificial intelligence would continue, after which the next part of the meeting continued behind closed doors.
