Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia will gradually scale back on military spending and not take part in an arms race with other countries of the world.
In a meeting of the Defense Ministry board, Putin said that Russia does not want to have a role as the “world gendarmerie,” RT reported.
“Gendarmerie” translates to “armed men” in English.
RT (Twitter)
“There is something else that we take into consideration – and I am speaking without irony – we rely on our peaceful foreign policy,” Putin said, according to RT. “That’s crucial, since we don’t need countless bases all over the world, we are not seeking to play the role of the world gendarme – we do not need that.”
According to RT, Putin said Russia does not want to get involved in a “pointless” arms race where the country will have its economy “drained.”
Instead, Putin said Russia will focus on strengthening its defensive capabilities through “intelligence, brains, discipline and organization.”
Putin said the country will be focusing on a “new generation army” with new cutting edge technology.
“Next year it will be some 2.8 percent of GDP. It will even slowly decrease further,” Putin said, referring to the country’s military budget.
