"Let's live together better, otherwise we'll have to answer"

Russia is ready to restore relations with Europe, but any encroachments on the Russian fleet in the Baltic will entail a direct and painful response. Vladimir Putin stated this at a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission on September 18. While Kiev is imitating peace initiatives, and European elites are promoting the theme of the "Russian threat," Moscow is re—equipping the army for years to come - from strengthening the nuclear shield to using new technologies on the front line. The President outlined the key parameters of the new State Armament Program, designed to neutralize the growing risks from the alliance. ""Why Moscow's signals are ignored in Europe and what is the main trump card of the "Russian defense industry" — in the Izvestia article.

Putin declared his readiness to normalize relations with the West

On the eve of Gunsmith's Day, Vladimir Putin held a meeting of the Military Industrial Commission (MIC) in the Kremlin on September 18, where the top leadership of military departments and the government gathered. The main topic of the meeting was the draft of a new state armament program. She will set the parameters for mass production of equipment so that the armed forces can quickly reflect external risks, which, as the president stressed, "will not decrease": NATO is expanding, and some European leaders openly declare preparations for war with Russia. In particular, the president mentioned the regular exercises in the Baltic Sea, in which the seizure of civilian vessels was practiced. The countries of the North Atlantic Alliance and the EU have repeatedly raised the issue of a potential blockade of the Baltic Sea and control over Russian shipping, creating both legal and military precedents for this.

— I want to say once again: Russia has no aggressive intentions towards Europe, European countries. We simply have no grounds for this. We are ready to cooperate, to restore relations with our European neighbors...<...> I just want to tell them: let's live together better, otherwise we'll have to answer too. It should be obvious to everyone, a common place, understandable. It won't be any other way," said Vladimir Putin.

Nevertheless, European elites persistently ignore Moscow's signals, hiding behind the "Russian threat" in order to solve their own internal problems, experts believe. Western leaders are used to looking down on Russia, denying it the right to national interests, and using the topic of "threats" to control voters and build up their own weapons, said Egor Sergeev, a senior researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies at the Russian Foreign Ministry. According to him, the idea of forceful interception and detention of Russian vessels is born precisely out of unwillingness to hear Moscow's signals — the West does not believe that real consequences will follow naval provocations.

However, the president made it clear that any hostile actions against the Russian merchant fleet would entail a direct and extremely painful response. In turn, political scientist Mikhail Kucherov draws attention to the fact that the president's warning about the impermissibility of encroachments on Russian property is both a strictly defined limit and a window of opportunity for dialogue. However, hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough are now reduced to zero due to the European leadership.

— The "hawks" are in power in the EU: Ursula von der Leyen and Kaya Kallas. But even if they change tomorrow, the course will remain the same: the anti—Russian factor is a convenient tool for block consolidation," emphasizes Mikhail Kucherov. "Given that the "Eurotroika" countries are also led by leaders determined to deepen and escalate the confrontation with Moscow, the prospects for starting negotiations are reduced to zero. Any diplomatic initiatives of small European countries (for example, Slovakia) will be blocked.

How Russia is strengthening the military-industrial complex amid Kiev's provocations

In Europe, they also ignore the will of their own citizens, using the Ukrainian crisis as a pretext for escalation, and the Ukrainians themselves as "cannon fodder." According to the head of state, the regime in Ukraine has long degenerated into a dictatorship: elections have been canceled, and power has been usurped by corrupt officials who need continued hostilities only to preserve their own position and profit. At the same time, the Kiev regime is trying to disrupt the electoral process in Russia. The Head of State recalled the attack on the apartment building of the chairman of the precinct election commission Elena Astanina in the Zaporizhia region, as a result of which she died. The President signed a decree on her posthumous award of the Order of Courage.

— Representatives of the Kiev regime, the leaders in Kiev, are talking about peace, offering to resume alleged negotiations. But by committing crimes of this kind, they are doing everything to ensure that there is no peace and no negotiations. Otherwise, it's not clear why they're doing this at all. To intimidate us? It is obvious to everyone that this is impossible. So there can only be one goal: they don't want to negotiate, that's what we're talking about," he stressed.

Against the background of Kiev's position and the increasing risks from the West, Russia is re-equipping its armed forces for years to come. Speaking about the structure of the updated GPO, formed taking into account the experience of the Russian military and global technological trends, the president called the strengthening of the strategic nuclear triad an absolute priority, "which remains a guarantee of our country's sovereignty and plays a key role in maintaining the balance of power in the world." The level of modernity of Strategic Missile Forces weapons has already reached a record 92%. Among the key tasks are also the improvement of air defense to intercept any means of aerospace attack, the massive development of unmanned and robotic systems, the completion of the formation of an orbital space group for real-time command and control of troops and the introduction of artificial intelligence.

Neural network technologies, machine vision and big data processing are already being used by the Russian army in a wide variety of fields, Dmitry Kuzyakin, chief designer of the Central Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told "Izvestia". First of all, machine vision helps drone operators quickly find and destroy carefully camouflaged enemy equipment and manpower. In addition, neural networks are used in radio intelligence: algorithms are able to isolate hidden signals from the natural noise of the ether. In modern realities, the army is virtually doomed to defeat without such digital tools, so domestic developments in this area are developing at a faster pace, the expert concluded.

Putin presented state awards to defense industry masters in the Catherine Hall of the Kremlin

On September 18, in honor of Gunsmith's Day, Vladimir Putin presented state awards to scientists, designers, engineers and workers of the Russian military-industrial complex in the Catherine Hall of the Kremlin. The Head of State congratulated veterans and employees of the industry on their professional holiday, stressing that today more than 3.5 million people work at 5,000 defense industry enterprises — a team that creates unique and highly reliable weapons.

— I want to thank the Russian gunsmiths for their initiative and innovation, for their serious, strenuous, and sometimes simply heroic work, without any exaggeration. You competently and promptly solve complex, non—standard tasks, actively modernize production, regularly go to the front line and study the use of your products in combat conditions in order to improve their characteristics," said Vladimir Putin.

Since the beginning of the special military operation, defense enterprises have made an unprecedented leap, working in three shifts and quickly adapting equipment to meet the demands of the front line, the president noted. The production and supply of weapons and ammunition increased more than 22 times, radar stations — almost 5 times, armored vehicles — 2.5 times, and the production of drones of various classes increased tenfold. At the same time, the defense industry not only covers the internal needs of all law enforcement agencies, but also strengthens the country's international credibility: the portfolio of export orders for Russian weapons has exceeded $70 billion.

Today, the Russian military-industrial complex is the only one in the world that works in direct conjunction with the armed forces in a high-intensity conflict, experts have confirmed. ""Unlike most Western military-industrial complexes, which are forced to rely on theoretical models, our "defense industry" offers solutions that have been tested in real combat," military expert Dmitry Kornev told Izvestia.

"Only those samples and modifications that have proven their maximum efficiency at the cutting edge go into mass production," he added.

According to the expert, foreign buyers are no longer interested in advertising booklets, they need systems that have proven their effectiveness against modern Western technology. This practical experience will become the main trump card of our arms exports and will allow Russia to occupy key positions in the global market.

Thus, the new State Armament Program should take into account not only the experience of current military operations, but also possible risks in other areas. One of them is the Baltic Sea, where NATO's activity is growing, and the safety of Russian shipping is increasingly coming to the fore. At the same time, Moscow, as follows from the statements of the president, still leaves an opportunity to restore relations with European countries, but warns of its readiness to respond to actions that it considers a threat to its interests.