Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that his country is ready to distribute advanced weapons around the world, including to Latin America, which he says are superior to other weapons systems. “Russia sincerely values historical strong, friendly, truly reliable ties with the states of Latin America, Asia and Africa and is ready to offer its partners and allies the most modern types of weapons,” Putin said at the start of the Army. 2022 International Military and Technical Forum outside Moscow. “From small arms to armored vehicles and artillery, fighter jets and unmanned aerial vehicles.” Putin added that “almost all” of the weapons he is willing to sell around the world have been used more than once in combat and argued that Russian products are superior to those made by his foreign rivals. “Many of them are years, or maybe decades ahead of their foreign counterparts, and in terms of their tactical and technical characteristics they are significantly superior to them,” Putin said. UKRAINE-RUSSIA WAR: DAY AND WEST DELAY IN WEAPONS DELIVERY PUTIN GIVES COVER IN DONBAS REGION Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses participants in the All-Russian Bolshaya Peremena competition for schoolchildren (MIKHAIL METZEL/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images) Rebekah Koffler, a former U.S. DIA intelligence officer who focused on Russia and author of “Putin’s Playbook: Russian’s Secret Plan to Defeat America,” told Fox News Digital that Putin’s comments show his desire to advance her influence his country around the world. “Putin is reaching out to all corners of the world, especially now that Russia is isolated from Western sanctions,” Koffler said. “He’s trying to invoke his own version of the Monroe Doctrine in his pursuit of influence that the Russians believe we’re violating by trying to democratize countries like Ukraine.” RUSSIA WARNS ARAB COUNTRIES ABOUT ARMS SMUGGLING IN UKRAINE Koffler explained that Russia’s approaches to its Latin American allies, such as Venezuela and Cuba, have “intensified” in recent months and could be part of a plan to potentially establish military bases in the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends the Victory Day military parade marking the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Kofler said Putin is telling the world that he believes Russia’s “value system is superior” and that by presenting a united front with its dictator allies in the Western Hemisphere he is “opposing US influence” and trying to “prove that the regimes they are just as legitimate to them as democratic regimes”. WEAPONS USED IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR Putin’s statement also signals that he “needs additional revenue” in light of U.S. sanctions stemming from Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Koffler explained. He is also “always interested in supporting fellow authoritarian regimes.” While Koffler acknowledged that Russian weapons may not be as sophisticated as American weapons in all areas, the country is considered by the Pentagon to be a “near-peer” competitor in that department, and weapons ranging from AK-47s to S- 400 surface-to-air missile systems could end up in the hands of groups around the world that pose a “long-term threat” to “kill Americans.” Russian servicemen march during a military parade on Victory Day, which marks the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II (REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov) CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “It’s not just Latin America, it’s all over,” Koffler said of Putin’s plans to send weapons to allies. “It’s China, North Korea and Iran too.” Russia ranks second only to the United States with arms sales of about $15 billion a year, nearly a fifth of the global export market. From 2017-2021, 73% of those sales went to just four countries — India, China, Egypt and Algeria — according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Reuters contributed to this report. Andrew Mark Miller is a writer at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips at [email protected]
