Meeting Russia over Ukraine will raise military spending in 2021, the think tank says
Military spending in Europe and Russia increased in the run-up to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine despite the dampening effects of the pandemic on economic growth, according to data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday. The war in Ukraine, which Russia calls a “special military operation”, has forced a rapid rethink in Europe on defense strategies and prompted a number of countries to promise large increases in military budgets.
It has also paved the way for a potential expansion of NATO’s military alliance to include Finland and Sweden. The greatest effect of increased military budgets is likely to be felt in the coming years, but spending was on the rise as early as 2021 amid rising tensions ahead of Russia’s invasion.
Global military spending topped $ 2 trillion for the first time ever last year, reaching $ 2,113 billion, an increase of 0.7% from 2020, as spending rose for the seventh year in a row, the influential defense think tank said. Russia increased its military spending by 2.9% in 2021 to $ 65.9 billion as it built its forces along the Ukrainian border, SIPRI said. It was the third year in a row of growth in Russia’s military spending, which reached 4.1% of GDP in 2021.
“High oil and gas revenues helped Russia increase its military spending in 2021,” Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, head of SIPRI’s military spending and weapons production program, said in a statement. “Russian military spending had declined between 2016 and 2019 as a result of low energy prices combined with sanctions in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.”
Russia remained in fifth place in global military spending, behind the United States, China, India and the United Kingdom. Ukraine spent $ 5.9 billion on its military in 2021, less than a tenth of Russia’s budget, according to SIPRI.
Total military spending in Europe amounted to 418 billion dollars and has increased sharply since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Military budgets increased by 3.0% from 2020 and were 19% higher than in 2012, said SIPRI. That figure is likely to increase sharply when countries such as Germany, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden fulfill promises to increase spending to 2% of gross domestic product in the coming years.
Missile defense systems, drones and high-tech fighter jets are high on the shopping list of countries that are worried about Russia.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)