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Kremlin says figures in report on Russian military spending in 2017 inaccurate

According to the report, last year Russia cut military spending by 20% to $66.3 billion

© Vitaly Nevar/TASS

SOCHI, May 3. /TASS/. The figures in the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Russia’s military spending in 2017 are inaccurate, although the tendency of the falling spending is right, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

According to the report, Russia cut military spending by 20% in 2017 to $66.3 billion. Russia reduced its military spending last year for the first time since 1998, it said.

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"The figures do not really correspond to reality, but the tendency is right," Peskov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier noted that a large-scale effort in the Russian army on technical and technological renovation had been carried out. This process was completed and therefore the peak of military spending on armaments was over, Peskov noted.

"So, there is a tendency of a small step-by-step decrease in spending," Peskov said. He stressed that the Russian military and industrial sector is working in full and high-tech developments are made.

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