Key points
- Vladimir Putin has announced plans to cut military spending amid predictions of Russia's impending economic collapse.
- The head of the Kremlin had to say something to the Russian people, and it was also a certain message to Western countries.
Against the backdrop of predictions of an approaching collapse of the Russian economy, Vladimir Putin announced a reduction in military spending. After all, he should have somehow responded to such talk.
Diplomat and former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko told Channel 24 that Putin's statement about cutting war spending has two addressees.
Why Putin announced cuts in war spending
Ogryzko believes that Vladimir Putin is now in a rather difficult situation. On the one hand, he is not so stupid as not to understand what is happening with the Russian economy and must respond to the real threats that his henchmen from the economic bloc are already publicly talking about.
The point is, the diplomat noted, that the Russian economy has exhausted itself. If this continues to happen, it will literally begin to crumble.
It seems to me that this is a message for the Russian population that requires some kind of reaction, the former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
If the Minister of Economy, the Minister of Finance and the head of the Central Bank say that the Russian economy is on the verge of collapse, Putin cannot help but react. And the Kremlin dictator does this, Ogryzko noted, not because he cares about the Russians, but so that they do not start complaining and looking for answers.
But the main message, the diplomat stressed, is addressed to the West. Against the backdrop of NATO's decision to increase defense spending, Putin is playing at “peace-loving” initiatives – seemingly preparing for the end of the war, while the West is preparing for a new one.
