Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized this Friday have “nothing against” of a possible accession of Ukraine to the European Union as this is not a “military organization”, as the Atlantic Alliance is.
“The EU is not a military organization, but a political bloc, unlike NATO. Therefore, we have always said that our position here is consistent and understandable”, the Russian president defended in the framework of the International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg.
The Russian leader has pointed out that each country has the right to make the “sovereign decision” to join economic associations, and these groups also have the right to decide whether to accept which certain countries, or not.
At this point, he has indicated that it will therefore be the European Union that must determine whether the accession of Ukraine -which this Friday has obtained from the European Commission the recommendation to receive the status of candidate country although with conditions-, It will be a beneficial aspect for the group.
Economy
Putin admitted today for the first time, albeit with a small mouth, that the Russian military campaign in Ukraine affects the world economy, although he maintained that the problems arose long before and they lie above all in “erroneous” economic policies of the US and the European Union (EU).
“I will say something about our operation: yes, it has had some impact, but the root is precisely in its erroneous economic policy,” Putin said at the plenary session of the 25th International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.
It is the first time that Putin admits part of the blame, but still insisted on throwing balls out.
“The worsening of the situation in the global economy is not a thing of the last few months. What is happening is not the result of Russia’s special military operation in Donbas,” he said.
“The rise in prices today, the inflation, the problems with food, fuel, gasoline, the problems in the energy sector as a whole are the result of systemic errors in the economic policy of the current US Administration and the bureaucracy This is the reason and only this,” he said.
Said for many years the G7 has adopted “irresponsible macroeconomic policies”. The US, he said, “printed, distributed money and with that money they empty the markets of third countries of all goods.”
And the EU, he added, adopted a “failed” energy policy by betting “blindly” on renewable sources and spot natural gas supplies instead of long-term contracts, which made energy prices more expensive as early as the third quarter of 2021. , “long before our operation in Donbas”.
Once Putin launched the campaign in Ukraine nearly four months ago, the West began waging a “Russophobic attack” and imposing “sick, crazy and thoughtless sanctions” against Russia, restrictions “unprecedented in their number and speed with which adopted,” he stressed.
“The calculation was clear: brazenly crush the Russian economy in one fell swoop with the destruction of trade chains, the forcible withdrawal of Western companies from the Russian market, the freezing of assets, and with an attack on industry, finance and the well-being of Russian citizens,” he said.
Putin draws a deceptive normality
“Of course, the sanctions create many difficulties for the country. Some companies have problems with components, some technologies are already inaccessible and logistics chains have been broken,” he stressed.
But this, on the other hand, “opens up new opportunities for us,” Putin said.
At the same time, he assured that the blitzkrieg economic war failed. “It did not work. Little by little we are normalizing the economic situation. First, we stabilize the financial markets, the banking system and the commercial network. Then we begin to inject liquidity and working capital to maintain the stability of companies, employment and jobs. work,” he said.
On the other hand, he added, the sanctions are a “double-edged” measure, since “they inflict comparable and even greater damage on their ideologues and designers.”
In Putin’s view, European politicians “have already dealt a heavy blow to their economy with their bare hands.”
The head of the Kremlin maintained that, according to experts, “the EU will lose more than 400,000 million dollars due to its sanctioning fever over the next year.”
“That is the price of decisions far from reality and taken against common sense,” he emphasized, while indicating that all this directly impacts the population due to the rise in prices and companies, which lose competitiveness.
Putin admitted that inflation in Russia is also at “too high” levels, being at 16.7%, but argued that in some eurozone countries, inflation already exceeds 20% and in the US the rate is the highest in 40 years.
Harsh criticism of the EU
“All the attempts to put a brave face on bad weather, all the talk about supposedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the EU has finally lost its political sovereignty and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to the music of others. ”.
“They do everything they are told from above, causing harm to their own population and their own economy, their own businesses,” the Russian president said.
He insisted that the EU has sanctioned Russian fertilizers, while the US did the same but later lifted the restrictions realizing it would be a mistake for food security.
“Its bureaucracy works like a millstone from the 18th century,” he said, while being willing to help balance the world food market if sanctions that hinder logistics, international payments and transport to Russia are lifted. .
Putin wanted to make it clear to the West that Russia “will not take the path of self-isolation and autarchy, even if Western friends dream of it.”
“We are expanding and will continue to expand the interaction with all those who want to work with us and there are many, the vast majority of the world’s population,” he assured.
“I will not say anything new if I tell you that all those who want to continue working and are working with Russia are subject to open pressure from the US and Europe, sometimes even direct threats,” he said.
But such “blackmail” means nothing to countries led by “strong leaders” who clearly understand what the interests of their countries and their people are, he stressed.
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