Putin: NATO is declaring war by military spending hike

• Putin says Russia is ready to respond swiftly to any Western escalation.
• Claims Russian forces are advancing and nearing control of Konstantinovka.
• Questions Ukraine’s commitment to peace after reported cross-border attacks.
• Highlights combat testing of over 1,000 advanced weapons and continued military modernization.

Speaking before a prominent gathering of top-performing military university graduates at the Kremlin on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a sharp warning to Western nations, stating that Russia is prepared to issue an immediate and calculated response to escalating military threats.

Putin asserted that leadership within NATO and the European Union are actively conditioning their societies for an open confrontation with Moscow, using fear-driven narratives to validate aggressive defense spending.

"We see that while previously NATO countries limited themselves to supporting the Kiev regime... they are now openly talking about preparing for a war with us and increasing their military offensive budgets," Putin said, according to a transcript compiled by the state-run TASS news agency.

The Russian leader heavily criticized the political mechanisms of the West, accusing European and American authorities of manufacturing external crises to benefit internal military-industrial complex allocations.

"The so-called pseudo-democratic West's pattern of action is very simple: first, they create threats to our country, forcing us to take necessary measures for self-defense and protection, and then immediately accuse us of all mortal sins to justify their aggressive policies," Putin remarked.
He maintained that the ultimate target of Ukraine's drone campaign inside Russia is not tactical, but societal, orchestrated with Western backing to create "uncertainty" and shake the baseline stability of Russian public life.

Turning to the status of the ongoing special military operation, Putin praised the battlefield efficacy of frontline officers, asserting that Russian forces are systematically pushing back Ukrainian units along the entire line of contact.

Specifically, he highlighted that Russian troops have reached the phase of "practical capture" regarding the strategic hub of Konstantinovka in the DPR.

Putin also expressed profound skepticism regarding Ukraine's diplomatic overtures, revealing a recent backchannel breakdown.

He noted that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky had recently dispatched a formal paper requesting a personal meeting and negotiations.

"So what? Three days later, Starobelsk was attacked," Putin stated, questioning the validity of the diplomatic track. "What does it mean? What are the prerequisites for personal meetings and negotiations? No, such appeals do not create the prerequisites... They are about creating some kind of conflict potential."

To guarantee national sovereignty amid regional instability -which Putin noted is expanding heavily across both Eurasia and the Middle East- the Kremlin is accelerating its long-term rearmament schedule.

Russia is consistently modernizing its strategic nuclear triad alongside its Aerospace Forces and Navy. The rearmament drive relies heavily on real-world data gathered during recent combat operations.

In 2025 alone, the Russian military successfully tested more than a thousand distinct weapon systems and hardware units under active combat conditions.

These evaluations included next-generation unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with advanced guidance software, loitering munitions, and specialized multi-purpose robotic systems.

Putin concluded by emphasizing that Russia's endurance throughout the past eight years of failed diplomatic negotiations left the state with no alternative but to militarily intervene to protect citizens within the Donbass who identify as part of the Russian world.

"No one notices what is in the interests of our country," Putin told the graduates. "Because no one needs it but us. But we need it."