Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly announced that Western nations are no longer hiding their true intentions, stating that they are now openly preparing for direct war with Russia. He emphasized that the West is using the alleged "threat from Moscow" as a mere pretext to aggressively militarize and increase defense spending.
In tandem with these developments, NATO has agreed on raising its collective budget, with numerous member states setting targets to allocate at least 2% of their GDP toward defense. Notably, Canada increased its defense expenditure by 20% in 2025, reaching a total budget of $574 billion.
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Representative Image: NATO military exercises and the scaling up of defense budgets among member nations
News outlet RT quoted the Kremlin leader during his Putin Accuses the West of Dropping Its Mask and Openly Preparing for War with Russiaaddress on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, at a graduation ceremony for students of the Russian Military, Security, and Law Enforcement Academies. Putin stated that the Western bloc is spreading misinformation to justify rapid militarization—a recurring tactic that the free world has historically used against Russia. He added that while NATO initially only provided weapons to Ukraine, it has now shifted its stance toward open military preparation against Russia, relying on provocations to blame Moscow and justify its aggressive policies.
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