Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly announced that Western nations are no longer hiding their true intentions, stating that they are now openly preparing for direct war with Russia. He emphasized that the West is using the alleged "threat from Moscow" as a mere pretext to aggressively militarize and increase defense spending.
In tandem with these developments, NATO has agreed on raising its collective budget, with numerous member states setting targets to allocate at least 2% of their GDP toward defense. Notably, Canada increased its defense expenditure by 20% in 2025, reaching a total budget of $574 billion.