Putin approves new budget with record defense spending

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off the country’s new budget on Sunday, which includes record spending on military needs amid Moscow’s ongoing assault against Ukraine.

Around 32.5 percent of the 2025 budget — or 13.5 trillion rubles (€119 billion) —  has been allocated for national defense, up from a reported 28.3 percent this year, according to a document posted on a government website, AP reported.

The budget approval came as European Union officials traveled to Ukraine to show solidarity with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The bloc’s new foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, European Council President António Costa and European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos visited Kyiv on Sunday, on the first day of the new European Commission’s mandate, to reaffirm their “unwavering support to the Ukrainian people,” Costa said on X.

Russian lawmakers had already approved the budget plans in late November.

With the war in Ukraine approaching the three-year mark, tensions have escalated recently. Moscow last week threatened to strike government buildings in Kyiv and has launched massive aerial attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector — which the Kremlin said were in response to Kyiv’s use of advanced weapons provided by the United States and the United Kingdom.