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Cost-cutting measures amounting to tens of billions of pounds could scupper research and investment in new technologies including next-generation fighter jets and intercontinental cruise ballistic missiles as well as the country's ability to wage wars in Europe and the Middle East. Projects such as the PAK-DA hypersonic stealth bomber - due to enter testing in 2020 - may also be put on hold as the massive savings start to impact Russia's ability to project its influence around the world. According to a draft budget seen by the Financial Times, President Putin's spending programme on defence is likely to be cut from £50bn to £37bn in 2017. That would bring Russia's defence allowance in line with the spending in the UK.

GETTY Tens of billions pounds could be wiped from the defence budget

Britain plans to invest around £35bn this year on defence, rising to almost £40bn by 2021. But as UK military spending rises, Russia's could drop by around 15 per cent between 2015 and 2019. Russia's economy has been in a deep recession since 2015, shrinking by 3.7 per cent in real terms last year as a result of a sharp drop in oil prices. Cuts to other areas including health and education are also mooted in the policy document, submitted on Friday to the Duma. Despite turbulent economic conditions in Russia, spending on defence grew by 60 per cent by 2015 as compared to 2010.

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However, Julian Cooper, a UK-based expert on Russia's defence programme, told the FT that was likely to change. He said: "If the draft budget is adopted it may well result in a period during which military expenditure in real terms will decline." NATO secretary general warned on Friday that Russia was using nuclear threats to try to intimidate Europe. Jens Stoltenberg said he did not see an "imminent threat" but warned about a "stronger Russia... a Russia which is more assertive, and a Russia which has been willing to use force against non-Nato European countries". Nuclear weapons are hugely costly to develop and maintain and deep cuts to Russia's budget could impact on Moscow's equivalent to the Trident weapons system in the UK, which MPs backed in a vote last month.

GETTY Russian tanks advancing near Ukraine

GETTY Russia's economy has been in recession

Dr Natasha Kuhrt, of King's College London's War Studies department, said: "It's not definite yet but clearly with the economic situation being as it is, something has to give. "To some extent Russia has achieved what it wanted in terms of military spending and has brought armed forces up to the required level from quite a low base. "If this is approved by the Duma, it is a sign that their priorities need to be recalibrated." She also warned that a reduced military budget did not mean an end to the fighting in Ukraine.

Dr Kuhrt said: "Ukraine doesn't take a lot out of the military budget. Russia now feels confident that it can defend itself. "It is all about threat perceptions, if you are in the Baltic states even though you may feel insecure, it doesn't mean that Russia poses a direct military threat. "I don't think Russia would actually launch an attack on the Baltic states, all it needs is for the West to overreact and that creates a certain momentum, then they can say to their people 'We told you so, they are the aggressive ones'." A significant cut in the country's defence bill chimes with a leading Russian analyst's assessment that President Putin is weak and insecure despite his aggressive posturing. Award-winning author Arkady Ostrovsky argued that the Russian leader knows he cannot afford a conventional war with NATO but is trying to intimidate the West with a threat of nuclear conflict.