Against the backdrop of the Ukrainian war, Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to further expand the country’s defense industry as a pillar of the domestic economy.
Putin said at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that weapons performance in combat operations should also be considered in further weapons development.
Otherwise, his ordering of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 (as opposed to general expectations) was not shown in his speech, which lasted less than an hour.
Putin also said Russia must leave the division between civilians and defense companies.
“We must constantly analyze the technological and organizational innovations in the civilian sector and quickly introduce them into the areas of defense and security,” the 72-year-old Kremlin leader said at the forum.
Putin announced that Russia will work with friendly countries to formulate national defense projects in the future, jointly produce weapons and train relevant cadres.
Overall, he came to positive conclusions about economic development.
He noted that GDP has grown by more than 4% over the past two years, not just due to weapons production. Meanwhile, inflation has recently dropped to 9.6%.
Putin stressed that in view of the latest warning of the possible recession by Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov: “Under no circumstances will stagnate or even recession be allowed.”
