Global military spending rose to a record last year because of Russia's war on Ukraine. Annual military spending in Europe is at its highest level since the end of the Cold War three decades ago. This was announced in a statement today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), quoted by Reuters.

Global military spending grew by 3.7 percent in real terms in 2022 to $2.24 trillion, SIPRI said.

The war that Russia started against Ukraine last year prompted European countries to rush to strengthen their defense capabilities, BTA points out.

Moscow says the "special military operation" in Ukraine was necessary to protect it from a hostile and aggressive West. Ukraine and its Western allies say Russia is waging an unprovoked war to seize territory.

European military spending jumped 13 percent last year, largely due to increases in Russia and Ukraine, but many other European countries have also boosted their military budgets and plan more increases amid rising tensions.

Institute researcher Diego Lopes da Silva said several governments have multi-year plans to increase military spending, meaning further increases in military spending can be expected in central and western Europe.

Ukraine's military spending rose 640 percent in 2022. This is the largest annual increase, according to data available to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, since 1949. This spending does not include military financial aid that Western countries have provided Ukraine.

According to the institute, US military aid to Ukraine will amount to 2.3 percent of total U.S. military spending in 2022. Although the US has the world's highest military spending, it has grown little in real terms.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia's military spending increased by 9.2 percent. The institute specifies, however, that these figures are not very certain, since the Russian financial authorities have become very opaque since the beginning of the war.

The gap between Russia's budget plans and its military spending in 2022 shows that the invasion of Ukraine is costing Moscow far more than expected, according to the director of the institute's program on military spending and arms production, Lucie Beraud-Sudreau.

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