MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed hope that there would be no new Cold War, stressing that in any case Russia would be affected to the least extent thanks to its advanced weapons, the Russian leader said in an interview with RT Arabic, Al Arabiya and Sky News Arabia TV channels on Sunday.
"I don’t want this. In any case, this would affect Russia to the least extent because like I have already said we have got promising armaments, which are absolutely exclusive and which no one in the world has now. To a certain extent, we have already gone our own way in this sense and now we are thinking about prospects and we are working calmly," Putin said.
Putin drew attention to the difference in military spending in a number of states, noting that Russia was in the seventh place in the world in terms of expenditure estimated at nearly $48 bln. The US is the world’s top spender, with its military budget exceeding $700 bln, and is followed by China, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, France and Japan.
"However, we have weapons, which no one in the world has. This is the result of a focused work in crucial areas. We must give credit to our specialists for their ability to determine these areas and concentrate resources," Putin noted.
The Russian leader also noted that "an arms race is a bad thing and it will not be good for the world." "However, we will not be dragged into exorbitant budget-spending games," he stressed.
