Russia's Putin announces 2018 defense spending cuts

MOSCOW, Aug 15 (KUNA) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday cuts of military spending in the 2018 budget.
During a meeting with United Russia ruling party faction leader Vladimir Vasilyev, Putin said the next year would witness a reduction in the military spending.
The reduction does not mean reconsidering plans of re-arming the Russian army and fleet, he stressed, noting that the spending cuts would mainly cover the defense sector, without specifying the military areas to be affected by the decision.
The Russian government had earlier set up a long-term plan to allocate USD 600 billion for re-arming the armed forces in all its forms until 2020.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said about 70 percent of the plan has been executed, and that the Russian forces obtained unique and modern weapons, including aircraft, missile system and warships.
The economic crisis caused by a drop in oil prices pushed Russia to cut the 2018 budget. (end) as.hm