The United States is suggesting its European allies to guarantee an increase in defense spending, the beneficiary of which is the U.S. military-industrial complex, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said at the Energy Panel during the XXVIII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“The United States is suggesting its European allies to guarantee an increase in defense spending.  The beneficiary of this increase is the Americans military and industrial complex. This country alone accounts for almost half of the global arms trade. The United States does not advertise that the militarization of NATO 'partners' for them means shifting their own defense spending to their allies, increasing the tax base and reducing the trade deficit,” he said, delivering a keynote speech on ”Odyssey of the Global Economy in Search of the Golden Fleece. The New Landscape of Global Energy.”

Describing this situation, Igor Sechin recalled the saying of Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli - “the power of authority lies in its secrecy”.

He also recalled that this year NATO countries have started to develop an agreement on a substantial increase in military spending to 5% of GDP by 2032. In fact, the U.S. is successfully achieving its goals by aggravating the already difficult fiscal situation in Europe.

According to him, steps to build up the Western military-industrial complex lead to the transfer of colossal resources from manufacturing industries. “For example, the production of a single F-35 fighter jet requires 417 kilograms of rare earth metals . It is not surprising that a real hunt for these resources has been launched in recent years.  Ukraine alone signed three agreements in this respect with European Union, Great Britain and USA over four years,” the CEO of Rosneft said.

“But all these actions will hardly become a panacea for all problems for Europe, as well as for USA.  There is always an asymmetrical answer,” summarized Igor Sechin.

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Rosneft Oil Company
June 21, 2025