Despite a Russian official hinting about a possible end to the Ukraine war, the country's Finance Ministry has dramatically increased Putin's war budget.
Putin himself has also not broached the subject of a possible ceasefire, and the Russian Finance Ministry's new document indicates he's prepared to invest deeply through 2024. According to the AFP's analysis, the document shows defense spending would increase by over 68 percent year-on-year to almost 10.8 trillion rubles . This figure would account for around 6 percent of Russia's GDP.
The document also indicates Putin is not yet ready to relinquish his illegitimate claim of four Ukrainian regions he annexed to Russia last year, as the report said"integrating" the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts is one of the finance agency's goals next year. If Lavrov's statement about recognizing Ukraine's previous maps is to be believed, then Russia would theoretically have to give up its claim to the four territories.
Meanwhile, Russia's economy has suffered during the war as Putin increased military spending and Western sanctions took hold. After the ruble hit a 17-month low against the U.S. dollar, Russia's Central Bank
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