Russia plans to cut defense spending next year, Putin says

The Russian government is planning to reduce its
defense spending next year in order to engage in “significant fiscal savings,”
Russian President Putin said on Aug. 15, as reported by the RBC news agency.
“We will fulfill state defense orders and we will create a new program, but our
plans include certain reductions from the past,” he said, adding that spending
cuts will also occur in social payments and the medical sphere.

Zenon Zawada: There could be various reasons for spending cuts, but we can’t help
but think that the Western economic sanctions are having their impact. With
Putin being acutely aware of the potential social unrest that can be caused by deterioriating
social conditions, he will need to reach some kind of conclusive decision
regarding the war in Donbas in the next two years. We believe it’s possible
that he can withdraw his support from Donbas if given the ability to save face,
which is possible under the complete fulfillment of the Minsk Accords.