Putin chief of staff dismisses allegations that Russia getting militarized
SOCHI, Russia. Oct 23 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin's chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, has dismissed allegations that Russia is getting militarized.
"Let statements to the effect that Russia is moving closer to the borders of NATO, and rapidly as well, remain on the conscience of those who make them. Or these theses that were made in Washington when I was defense minister: What are the Russian armed forces? They have rusty missiles, rusty submarines. That hasn't deserved being taken seriously for a very long time. It was 10 years ago. Now all of a sudden the Russian armed forces become modern, powerful, perfidious, and are rushing toward the borders of NATO. Let it remain on the conscience of those who say so," Ivanov told reporters on the fringes of a session in Sochi on Thursday of the Valdai international discussion club.
"We're not rushing anywhere, we're not into militarism. It's just that in the last 10 years Russia has become more powerful, and not even so much militarily as economically," he said.
"Yes we do have an awful lot of difficulties and problems, including because of the so-called sanctions imposed on us. But, if you look at the budget of the Russian Federation as it was 10 years ago and today, you'll see how much we were spending on education, on healthcare and on the infrastructure in those times," Ivanov said.
