Russian Defense Minister: 'We need something that can counter aircraft carrier strike groups'
(Baonghean.vn) - According to the Russian Defense Minister, the US may have a military budget far exceeding Russia's, but that does not matter because the Russian army is to protect the country, not to attack other countries.
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| US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Photo: Reuters |
According to RT, Russia's military budget was increased a few years ago to serve a large-scale rearmament program, but in recent years has been reduced. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that Russia was the world's 6th largest defense spender in 2018, behind the US, China, Saudi Arabia, India and France. Meanwhile, the US Pentagon has "spent money" under the Trump administration, overwhelming the military budgets of other countries.
But the head of the Russian Defense Ministry insisted that Russians have no reason to worry, as their tax money is being spent wisely.
“The US spends huge sums of money on private military contractors, on aircraft carriers. So, does Russia really need 5-10 aircraft carrier strike groups, when we have no intention of attacking anyone?” - Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told a Russian newspaper.
“We need things that can be used against an enemy carrier strike group if our country is attacked. They are much less expensive and more effective,” he added.
Minister Shoigu also criticized Washington for its bad habit of justifying its military interventions around the world by referring to the interests of people living in the countries it targets.
“In which country did they go ‘to bring democracy’ where democracy developed? Was it Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria?” Shoigu said. “And one can certainly forget about sovereignty and independence after the US intervention.”
He added that the US does not seem to have lost its appetite for undermining other countries, whether through military intervention or otherwise.
“Our Western colleagues like to accuse Russia of waging ‘hybrid wars’ or whatever. I insist that the West is waging the real hybrid wars. The US is now leaving Afghanistan devastated and in ruins, and at the same time they are trying to stir up trouble in Venezuela – all for the ‘victory of democracy’, of course.”
Also according to RT, this year, the US tried to overthrow the Venezuelan government by backing Juan Guaido, the self-proclaimed interim president of this Latin American country. However, his self-proclaimed move was unsuccessful. The two plots to start a large-scale uprising of the people and overthrow President Nicolas Maduro both failed, despite Washington promising that they would lift economic sanctions on Venezuela when the person they backed took control.
