© Sputnik/ Alexei Druzhinin
Reuters: Putin Says Russia Must Strengthen Army to Defend Itself
Update: Russia to strengthen armed forces to tackle challenges from outside: Putin -- Xinhuanet
WNU Editor: I get nervous when I hear a Russian President say the following .... Putin Says US Military Spending Incomparably Higher Than Russia's (Sputnik) .... what he is implying is that Russia is not spending enough. In the past when the Kremlin was given a choice between "guns and butter" .... they always took the guns .... and it appears that Putin has decided to continue that tradition. I know that his economic advisers are advising him that a military buildup will stimulate (in the short term) the economy ... and it will help to mitigate the economic recession that everyone is predicting. But what made the decision to not cut the defense budget easy for him to make was (and is) the ongoing crisis in Ukraine .... and threats from the EU and NATO. As for the future ..... sighhh .... it is going to be a difficult year in Russia ....and while everyone's focus is on the military, my focus is on this .... Is a banking crisis looming in Russia? (Alexei Lossan, RBTH).