Putin Calls Russian Arms ‘Significantly Superior’ To Rivals

By Staff, Agencies

Russia is ready to sell advanced weapons to allies globally and cooperate in developing military technology, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, adding its latest arms are far superior to those of rival nations.

With the Russian leader’s forces beaten back from Ukraine’s two biggest cities and making slow headway at a heavy cost in the east, the five-month war in Ukraine has so far not proved to be a convincing showcase for Russia’s weapons industry.

However, addressing an arms show outside Moscow, Putin insisted Russian armaments were years ahead of the competition.

Russia cherishes its strong ties with Latin America, Asia and Africa, “and is ready to offer partners and allies the most modern types of weapons – from small arms to armored vehicles and artillery, combat aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles,” he said.

“Almost all of them have been used more than once in real combat operations,” he added.

He said Russia could offer new models and systems: “We are talking about high-precision weapons and robotics, about combat systems based on new physical principles. Many of them are years, or maybe decades ahead of their foreign counterparts, and in terms of tactical and technical characteristics they are significantly superior to them.”

Ukraine has made effective use of United States-supplied weaponry, especially high mobility artillery rocket systems [HIMARS], and Russia has taken a series of major blows, including the devastation of an airbase in the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula last week.

Nevertheless, Putin said the forces of Russia and its proxies in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine were fulfilling all their tasks.

“Step by step, they are liberating the land of Donbas,” he said.