Russia will have to increase its missile arsenal to deter the West, in the context in which Moscow is now in open confrontation with the US and its allies, a Russian diplomat said on Monday, Reuters reports, according to Agerpres.
Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has led to the biggest deterioration in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, according to Russian and American diplomats.
Russia has ramped up its weapons production and the US estimates it will manufacture more artillery this year than all 32 NATO member states combined.
“We are now in a stage of open confrontation which, I hope, will not lead to a direct armed conflict,” diplomatic envoy Grigori Mashkov told the Russian RIA news agency.
As a result, Mashkov said, it will be necessary to take “new steps to strengthen the country’s defense capability, including increasing the missile arsenal, to deter any potential enemy from testing Russia’s strength.”
Grigori Mashkov said that Russia is already doing a lot in the field, but that it is necessary to do even more, given the growing threat from the West and technological advances in most types of missiles, from tactical to intercontinental.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia plans to spend 7.1% of GDP on military equipment, i.e. more than a third of government spending in 2024.
Publisher: CLB
Tags: Russia claims open confrontation West increase number missiles
