Putin: West Supported So-Called “Arab Spring” which Led to Chaos in Region

MOSCOW- Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed that the West has supported the so-called “Arab Spring” which had led to chaos in the region.

Answering questions at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2016) on Friday, Putin said fueling global tensions and revolutions seems to be necessary to justify NATO’s existence.

 He stressed that Russia aims for compromise in relations with West and opposes fueling of tension, according o Sputnik.

When asked about the situation in Syria, Putin noted that Russia counts on US to convince Syrian “opposition” to hold constructive dialogue with Damascus.

 “Most important thing in Syria is to avoid that country falls apart,” he said.

He noted that he agrees with the US proposal to include Syrian opposition representatives in the a coming Syrian government.

Addressing the SPIEF-2016, President Putin shared his vision on Russia’s role on the global arena.

The world is undergoing a major transformation that affects all fields of life, he said.

“The St. Petersburg forum traditionally serves as a platform for the discussion of strategic issues and challenges. Such a talk is even more important today, when the world is undergoing a major transformation, when deep changes affect almost all areas of life,” Putin said.

The Russian leader noted that the lack of economic growth after the 2009 crisis is at the core of geopolitical tensions.

Structural problems in global economy hamper growth resumption, he acknowledged.

“After the 2008-2009 crisis, it was possible to partly balance the finances, to limit but not overcome the problem of debt growth, to make cash flows more transparent and manageable. However, structural problems, which accumulated in the global economy, remain. It is still hard to succeed in restarting the growth,” the president said.

The current geopolitical tensions are linked to the depletion of former sources of growth and may intensify, he added.

“The current geopolitical tensions are linked to a certain extent to economic uncertainty, to the exhaustion of the old sources of growth. There is a risk it may intensify and could even be artificially provoked,” Vladimir Putin said.

By 2025, he added,  there will be a single energy market and Russia will play a vital role in it.

Moscow against Washington’s Meddle in Domestic Affairs

The Russian President said that the world needs such a powerful country as the United States but Moscow does not want Washington to meddle in domestic affairs and prevent the European Union to build relations with Moscow, Itar Tass reported.

“The world needs such a powerful country as the United States. And we also need it. But we don’t need them to constantly interfere in our affairs and tell us how to live and prevent Europe to build relations with us,” Putin said.

The US tells its European partners to tolerate sanctions against Russia although they affect Europe’s economy. “Why tolerate? I don’t understand,” Putin said, adding that compared with the EU, the US economy is not suffering from the anti-Russian sanctions.

The Russian president admitted that the US is the only superpower today. “We understand this, we want and are ready to work with the United States,” Putin said.

Balance of interests with West must be sought to prevent Cold War

Putin believes that the western policy of unilateral actions by the West breeds chaos and that a dialogue and search for mutually acceptable solutions is needed instead for preventing a rerun of the Cold War.

“If the policy of unilateral actions goes on, if steps in the international scene, very sensitive for the international community, are not coordinated, such (negative) consequences will be inevitable,” he said at the full-scale meeting of the forum. “If we turn an attentive ear to each other, if we look for a balance of interest, this will not happen.”

“If there is such cooperation, nobody will ever talk about any Cold War,” he remarked. Putin said he would not like to think that “we are moving towards some Cold War.”

“I am certain that nobody wishes that,” Putin said. In his opinion, however dramatic the logic of international relations might seem, it was not a logic of global confrontation.

Putin recalled the history of problems that existed in relations between Russia and the West. He said that after the collapse of the Soviet Union many had hoped for a climate of “universal prosperity and trust.” However, Russia had to confront international terrorism and separatism, while other countries started providing assistance to the separatists.

After that, he went on to say, Russia encountered the problem of NATO’s expansion. He pointed to the alliance’s intention to incorporate Montenegro.

 “Who is threatening Montenegro?” Putin asked while commenting on that idea.

He also touched upon the problem of NATO’s missile defense, which continued to develop even though the Iranian threat had vanished. Lastly, Putin recalled the western support for “color revolutions” in different countries.

 On Monopoly on new Technologies

Vladimir Putin also noted that there are attempts in the world to secure monopoly on new technologies.

He added that creation of barriers to stop technologies from being transferred to other parts of the world may lead to new problems.

“Today, we can see attempts to secure [right for technologies] or even to monopolize the benefits from technologies of the next generation. I think, the creation of enclosed regulatory areas with barriers for the flows of the breakthrough technologies to other regions of the world, with rigid control over the cooperation chains for the maximum extraction of technological rent, is related to that,” Vladimir Putin said.

The Russian leader stressed that it is impossible to contain technologies in an enclosed area in the contemporary world.

On the Role of the Eurasian Economic Union

The Eurasian Economic Union might become a center of further economic development.

“We are creating a Greater Eurasian Partnership, including existing partners and new ones such as China, Pakistan, India as well as other. We are strengthening intellectual property rights and will then be lowering customs tariffs. The EU is our key economic neighbor,” the president said.

The president said that talks with China on creating a major Eurasian partnership will begin by the end of the month.

“In June, we are planning to officially launch talks with our Chinese partners on the creation of a comprehensive trade and economic partnership in Eurasia with the participation of the Eurasian Economic Union and China,” Putin said.

“I expect this to be one of the first steps of creating a large Eurasian partnership,” he added.

Around 40 states and international organizations expressed readiness to cooperate with Eurasian Economic Union, said the Russian leader.

European business wants and is ready to cooperate with Russia, the president said. Politicians should understand this and resume the level of cooperation.

On Anti-Russian Sanctions

“Regarding the sanctions, all Russia’s actions are reciprocal, we do not hold a grudge, but it is “not a one way road,” the Russian leader said.

However import substitution is an important stage in Russia’s economic development and helps include Russia as equal partner in international economic alliances, the president said.

Russia solved its worst economic problems and see growth in the future, the president said. The problem of capital outflow has been tamed, inflation of 5% is achievable in the medium term.

“We must move away from hydro-carbon dependency,” Vladimir Putin also noted.

On Improving of Economic, Business and Investment Conditions in Russia

The president also called for more transparency in Russian judicial system.

Law enforcement agencies will be looking closely at improving economic, business, investment conditions, he promised.

“We are working on new technologies for new markets. The government should lift bureaucracy which interferes with this work,” the president said.

On Education

The Russian leader also ntoed that education is the most important thing Russia should focus on. Russia leads the world in the number of engineering students.

With regards to the future business, the president said that special new structures to manage investment and business will be created, headed by the President and the Prime Minister.

 

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