Kremlin: Russia cannot give up current defense spending 'in present situation'
Russian Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov has stated that Russia cannot give up current defense spending in the present situation, RIA Novosti reports.
"I am perfectly aware that in the current situation, we can not abandon the costs of defense.... Today, budgetary spending on defense and security is about a third of all expenditures; this is a large share, but absolutely justified by the fact that our country is a nuclear power and has to repel all those political attacks that are [being launched toward] our country," he clarified.
Siluanov earlier reported that 29% of expenditures in the draft budget for 2018-2020 are related to defense, reminds Interfax. This is less than expenditures for the social sphere (36.4%), but much more than those related to the "national economy" (14.7%).