02.03.2020, Moscow.
Russia does not intend to go to war with anyone, and it is working to create a situation that even the intention of other countries to invade our country will be excluded, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with TASS on March 2 within the framework of the 20 questions to Vladimir Putin project.
“We do not intend to go to war with anyone, but we are creating a situation in the defense sector so that no one would even think about invading us,” the President said, answering a journalist’s question about defense spending.
The Russian leader pointed out that Russia has been annually reducing defense spending, and it is now seventh place in the world in terms of defense budget. The United States, China, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, France, and Japan are ahead of our country in this indicator. Putin directed attention to the fact that the US military budget is a record $738 billion for 2020.
At the same time, according to the head of state, now there is a unique situation that Russia has stopped playing “catch-up”, and it has taken the leading position in the defense sector. The creation of offensive weapons that other countries do not have, especially hypersonic ones has led to the fact that other states, including the United States have to catch up to us.
Putin announced the introduction of the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) for intercontinental ballistic missiles in a message to the Federal Assembly on March 1, 2018. The Avangard is capable of moving at a speed exceeding Mach 20 (close to the first cosmic velocity) and performing maneuvers on its movement trajectory, both in course and altitude. This makes the HGV invulnerable to modern and prospective missile defense systems.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
