History repeats itself: Polish FM compares Putin to Brezhnev
Photo: Radosław Sikorski (facebook.com/JankaOchojska)
A new arms race could lead to the collapse of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's regime, just as it led to the fall of the Soviet Union, stated Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, Barron's reported.
"Putin should understand that he is on the path of Brezhnev. He himself once said that the Soviet Union collapsed because it spent too much on armament, and now he is doing exactly the same thing. He is waging a very expensive war and also provoked, scared the whole West into reinforcing its defence spending... We are doing it because Putin is threatening us," Sikorski said.
In his view, Putin "will have to squeeze out even more defence funds" now.
It is worth noting that Sikorski previously said Europe must aim to surpass Russia in defense capability within the next few years. He emphasized the need to increase defense spending and expand the military-industrial complex.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called on European NATO member states to boost their defense budgets. The 5% of GDP target was proposed by Washington.
Amid growing agreement among European nations to meet that target, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has already acknowledged that they have "stepped up".
