Putin accuses West of colonial arrogance

RUSSIA,BELGIUM: Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West on Friday of colonial arrogance and trying to crush his country with “stupid” sanctions that amounted to an economic “blitzkrieg”.

Addressing the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, a showcase event this year being held with almost no western participation, he told Russia’s political and economic elite: “We are strong people and can cope with any challenge. Like our ancestors, we will solve any problem, the entire thousand-year history of our country speaks of this.”

Putin said the United States considered itself “God’s emissary on Earth”, and that Western sanctions were founded on a false premise that Russia had no economic sovereignty.

Washington and its allies were trying to “change the course of history”, he said, to weaken a sovereign, independent Russia.

Putin considers that the economic “blitzkrieg” launched against Russia by the Western powers was doomed to failure and has warned that the sanctions are a double-edged sword. The Russian President estimates they will cost the European Union over US$400 billion.

Meanwhile, Russia is putting the world at risk of famine through its blockade of Ukraine’s shipments of grains and restrictions on its own exports, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Saturday.

The threat to food security and a “battle of narrative” with Russia on Western-imposed sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine will dominate European Union Foreign Ministers’ talks in Luxembourg on Monday. – THE TELEGRAPH INDIA, THE MALAY MAIL