Global Economy Changing, Western Geopolitical Game Against Russia: Keynotes From Putin's EEF Speech
08:41 12.09.2023 (Updated: 11:52 12.09.2023)
© POOL
/ Subscribe
The Russian leader's comments on the geopolitical situation came at the plenary session of the 8th edition of the EEF, which is taking place on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University from September 10-13. Sputnik is the official media partner of the forum.
The global economy continues to change primarily because the West is destroying the system of financial relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated.
"We know well, we see how the global economy has changed in recent years and continues to change, including due to the fact that some countries, primarily Western ones, with their own hands are destroying the system of financial, trade, economic relations, which they themselves created in many ways," Putin said at the plenary session of the ongoing Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok.
It is important that a list of countries that are ready to cooperate not according to Western patterns, but for all humanity, is expanding against this backdrop, the president noted.
Moreover, the restriction of payments in dollars has led to the fact that all countries are thinking about payments in national currencies and keeping savings outside the United States, as trust in the West is being undermined, he noted.
"For example, restrictions on payments in dollars. Where does this lead? Because all countries are thinking about creating their own instruments, about creating new payment systems, they are thinking about whether it is worth keeping their savings in the United States or somewhere in Europe, whether it is worth investing their savings in the securities of these countries," the leader stressed, adding that "trust [in those who impose these restrictions] is being undermined."
The president specifically pointed out that Russia should be self-sufficient, but this does not mean in isolation.
"Our country must be self-sufficient, including in the field of security and defense. But this does not mean isolation of the country. This means that we, in cooperation with our partners and friends, in integration with the vast majority of countries that represent the majority of the country’s population, will develop our own country and make it even stronger," Putin said.
Attacks on Russia 'Continuation of Geopolitical Confrontation' Initiated by West
Attacks against Russia in all directions are a continuation of the global confrontation initiated by the West, Putin said.
"Everything that is related to relations between Russia and the West is connected to geopolitical interests of Western countries. And attacks on all directions, including in culture, are continuation of this geopolitical confrontation. Of course, the West sought, let's say, to catholicize Russia, move it under the Holy See's power," he elaborated.
Additionally, the president said that it is necessary to reach an agreement with businesses so that they understand that it is more reliable to work in Russia.
"Today, the logistics chains for the supply of goods have almost been restored, everything has somehow returned to normal. Well, we see that this is also connected with the exchange rate of the national currency, among other things," Putin said, adding that the state and businesses should be equal partners.
Speaking of the domestic political events in the US and its impact on the relations with Moscow, Putin expressed his belief that 2024 presidential election in the US will not result in fundamental changes in Washington’s policy towards Moscow.
“I think that there will be no fundamental changes in the Russian direction in US foreign policy, no matter who is elected president,” he said.
The Russian president also said that accusations against Donald Trump, a former US president, regarding his ties with Moscow are “complete nonsense.”
“As for the prosecution of Trump... for us, what is happening in today’s conditions, in my opinion, is good, because it shows how rotten the American political system is …All that's happening with Trump is political persecution of a political rival,” Putin said.
Ukraine’s Counteroffensive a 'Failure', Losses Amount to 71,000
The Russian president also spoke about the recent developments regarding the special military operation. Ukraine’s military casualties during the ongoing counteroffensive in the special military operation zone amount to 71,000, while the effort has shown no results.
"Ukraine is conducting a so-called counteroffensive. But there are no results …failure, not [just a] failure... There are losses, huge losses. Since the beginning of the counteroffensive, the loss of personnel is 71,000 people," Putin said.
The Russian head of state also said that there is a "forced mobilization" in Ukraine, describing the process as "one wave after another." In addition, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost 543 tanks and almost 18,000 armored vehicles of various classes.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive began on June 4. Kiev sent into battle brigades trained by NATO and armed with Western equipment, including the widely advertised Leopard tanks - subsequently, footage of the vehicles smoking on the battlefield caused a stir in the West.
Three months later, Putin stated: the “counteroffensive” is not only stalled, but “it’s a failure.” According to Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, the Ukrainian military did not achieve their goals in any of the areas. The hottest of them is Zaporozhye, near the small village of Rabotino, where Ukraine brought into battle brigades with Western training from the strategic reserve.
Meanwhile, over the past six to seven months, a total of 270,000 Russians have signed military contracts and became volunteers, Putin said.
Regarding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s law banning Kiev-Moscow negotiations, Putin said that everything might change if Washington makes such decisions.
"As for the negotiation process, if the United States believes that Ukraine is ready for negotiations, then let them cancel the decree of the president of Ukraine, which prohibits negotiations," he said.
He went on to say that the US does not take into account human losses of Ukraine. He clarified that today's Ukrainian leadership also does not feel sorry for its citizens. The president expressed confidence that by “throwing people into the furnace,” the conflict will only drag on.
Putin expressed doubt that after the end of hostilities in Ukraine, the process of economic recovery will begin there.
“That is, they are for an image of the future associated not only with interaction with someone, but an image of the future associated with their complete dependence on someone. In the field of defense, they need someone to cover them, otherwise they won’t be able to,” Putin said.
In the economic sphere, the Russian President added, Ukraine “needs money to be allocated from the appropriate funds, otherwise it will not recover.”
Speaking about the foreign help to the Kiev regime, Putin said that a Ukrainian sabotage group, which aimed to blow up power lines in Russia and were captured, have admitted that they were trained by the instructors from the United Kingdom. He added that it seems like they are provoking Russia to strike Ukrainian nuclear facilities.
“During the clash, the FSB [Russia’s Federal Security Service] captured several people, [some] were destroyed, the rest were taken prisoner, it turned out that this was a sabotage group of the Ukrainian special services. Interrogations are ongoing, which show that their task was to cause damage to one of our nuclear power plants, to blow up power lines in order to ultimately disrupt the operation of the power plant. This is not their first attempt,” the president explained.
The Russian president added that Ukrainian saboteurs have admitted that they were trained by the UK instructors during the interrogation.
“Do they even understand what they are playing with or not? Why are they provoking us to take some kind of retaliatory action against Ukrainian nuclear facilities, nuclear power plants?” Putin said.
Putin also said that he is not ruling out that the UK does not know what their intelligence services are doing in Ukraine.
Russia, China Achieved Unprecedented Level of Cooperation in Recent Years
According to Putin, the situation in the global economy has stimulated the work of Russia in the Far East.
"We started [work on infrastructure development in the Far East] a long time ago, but in recent years, what is happening in the global economy, of course, has stimulated our work in this Far Eastern direction," he said.
Vladimir Putin has also revealed that the country's trade with countries of the Asia-Pacific region increased by 13.7% in 2022 and grew by another 18.3% over the first half of 2023.
For instance, Russia and China have reached an unprecedented level of cooperation in recent years, the Russian president said.
"Indeed, in recent years we have reached an unprecedented level of our relations, this applies to all areas of our interaction," Putin said.
Russia and China do not create military alliances and are not friends against anyone, the president said, adding that countries are friends in the interests of their people, and Russia and China will continue to do so.
Commenting on negotiations between the two countries on wide-body aircraft, the president said that the talks has long been underway, but there is progress.
Additionally, Moscow and Beijing still cannot agree on the supply of pork from China, but it is wrong to say that the two do not respond to each other’s requests, the president said.
12 September 2023, 09:34
However, Western countries are trying to contain the development of China, but they are too late, as new centers of power will develop, the president noted.
"Today, the West is trying to restrain the development of China because it sees that China, under the leadership of ... [President Xi Jinping], is developing by leaps and bounds. This leaves them [Western states] in shock. They are doing everything to slow down the development of China, but this will not be possible, they are too late. That is it, the train has left," Putin said.
This is an objective process and the matter is not only in China, but also in India, in Indonesia, as new centers of power will develop, he added.
The president added that Russia expects to continue trade cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region, since the potential of this partnership "is impossible to overestimate."
The 8th edition of the EEF is taking place on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University from September 10-13. Sputnik is the official media partner of the forum.
