Russia may reduce defense expenditures in new budget cycle, discussions are underway - Putin

MINSK. June 27 (Interfax) - Russia may reduce its budget defense expenditures, whose growth has become one of the causes of the increasing inflation, the agencies are now discussing these plans, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference in Minsk.

"Yes, our [defense] expenditures are not small today, it's 6.3% of the GDP. Is it a lot or little? I believe it's a lot, and it, of course, is one of the problems, including for the budget, that we need to solve. And we are solving it well," he said.

Putin said 6.3% of the GDP is 13.5 trillion rubles (the total GDP in monetary terms is 223 trillion rubles). "We have paid for it [the increasing budget expenditures] with inflation, but we are now fighting this inflation," the president said.

Unlike the European Union, "we plan to reduce the defense expenditures. We plan next year, and the following year, in the coming three year-period. There is currently no definitive agreement between the Defense Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the Economic Development Ministry, but generally everyone is thinking precisely in this direction. And Europe is thinking about how to increase its defense expenditures," Putin said.