During the opening ceremony for the Army 2022 Expo in Moscow, President Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia values its ties with its Asian, African, Middle Eastern and South American allies, pledging to expand military cooperation and offering to arm them with “the most modern types of weapons – from small arms to armored vehicles and artillery, combat aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles”

“We are talking about high-precision weapons and robotics, about combat systems based on new physical principles. 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,” Putin stated.

Putin went on to seemingly reference Russia’s opposition to the West, essentially calling for support and unification by saying “We highly appreciate the fact that our country has many like-minded allies and partners on different continents. These are the states that do not succumb to the so-called hegemon. Their leaders show a real masculine character and do not bend.”

He added that Russia’s allies should “choose a sovereign, independent course of development and want to collectively solve the issues of global and regional security on the basis of international law, shared responsibility and mutual interests, thus contributing to upholding a multipolar world.”