Senator Franz Klintsevich stressed that United States spends on defense more than 15 times over what Russia’s defense budget is.

With military spending some 15 times smaller than that of the United States, Russia manages to ensure its safety while abstaining from getting drawn into an arms race, said the First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee on Defense and Security Franz Klintsevich on December 14, 2017. The Russian Senator’s comments were made in response to military expenditure statistics that President Vladimir Putin shared during his annual news conference.

“I think that after today’s press conference of Vladimir Putin, our defense spending does not kill the economy. The President gave two figures: USD46 billion and USD700 billion. The first number represents Russia’s spending, and the second the military expenditures of the United States. It turns out that Americans spend on defense more than 15 times over what we spend; and data from a few years ago show that it was only about a ten-fold spread,” Klintsevich said.

“Russia provides for its own security without getting dragged into an arms race, although the United States is pushing us. The experience of the standoff of the Soviet Union and the United States should be remembered. It is crucial that with our relatively small defense expenditures, we are able to ensure our country’s security. This demonstrates the quality of our armed forces today, as well as the quality of weapons with which they are equipped,” the Senator is reported to have said.

Russia’s procurement costs and expenditures for the maintenance of arms and military equipment in 2018 will stand at 2.8 trillion rubles, said Russian President Vladimir Putin during his annual news conference.