Putin touts Russia’s ‘superior’ battle-tested weapons at arms show

President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was ready to sell advanced weapons to allies globally and cooperate in developing military technology, nearly six months into the Ukraine war in which his army has performed worse than expected.

With its forces beaten back from Ukraine’s two biggest cities and making slow headway at heavy cost in eastern provinces, the war has so far proved an unconvincing showcase for Russia’s arms industry.

But Putin, addressing an arms show outside Moscow on Monday, insisted Russian weaponry was years ahead of the competition.

Russia cherished its strong ties with Latin America, Asia and Africa and was ready to supply allies there with a full gamut of weapons from small arms to armoured vehicles, artillery, combat aircraft and drones, he said. “Almost all of them have been used more than once in real combat operations.”

He said Russia’s offer included high-precision weapons and robotics.

“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.”