Moscow has no plans of aggression says Putin as he sees largest war games
RUSSIA is peace-loving but prepared to defend its national interests, Vladimir Putin has said during the country’s largest military exercises since the Cold War.
Speaking to 30,000 Russian and Chinese troops lined up at the Tsugol training zone, east of Lake Baikal, the president said Russia sought co-operation with other countries.
At the same time, he stressed that the manoeuvres, called Vostok 2018 and said to include a third of Russia’s active military personnel, were the first time the army and navy had undergone such a “complex and large-scale test”.
“Russia is a peace-loving nation. We do not have and cannot have any plans of aggression,” Mr Putin said.
“Our duty towards Russia, our motherland, is to be ready to stand up for its sovereignty, security and national interests, and support our allies if required,” he added.
“For this reason, we are committed to further strengthening our armed forces and supplying them with the most up-to-date weapons and equipment, as well as promoting international co-operation.”
Although troops were attacking an imaginary opponent, analysts have said the exercises are clearly designed to rehearse a potential conflict with the United States.
In a sign of its growing ties with Russia, China sent 3,000 soldiers, 900 vehicles and 30 aircraft to the exercises. Wei Fenghe, the Chinese defence minister, sat in the viewing booth with Mr Putin and the commander of Mongolia’s military, which also sent troops.
Mr Putin thanked the personnel from China and Mongolia, noting that they had been allies with the Soviet Union during the Second World War.
“We share a long-standing tradition of brotherhood in arms,” he said.
Vostok 2018 will last seven days across nine training zones in eastern Russia. According to defence ministry claims, 300,000 troops, 36,000 vehicles, 1,000 aircraft and 80 warships will take part, surpassing even the Zapad war games of 1981.
Mr Putin watched as paratroopers rappelled from helicopters, aircraft fired missiles and tanks thundered across the fields. Artillery fired more than 2,500 shells yesterday in a technique called the “wall of fire”.
A nuclear, bacteriological and chemical weapons unit also took part in the exercises, according to the Kremlin. Shortly after the drills, the suspects in the Skripal case spoke on a state broadcast, denying that they deployed a Russian-made nerve agent in Salisbury.