Speaking at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin stated that Europe’s elites are fueling chaos and are interested in plunging more and more countries into it, even as the paradigm of global development shifts.
The Russian president took part in the plenary session of SPIEF, Russia’s flagship business and economic forum held annually since 2006 and attracting billions in investments each year.
Putin appeared at the forum’s main event alongside Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.
Addressing the forum, Putin said the existing “hierarchical model” of global trade and cooperation is undergoing profound changes. He argued that while it was based on ideas about “universality,” it was actually designed to extract wealth and resources from certain countries, while excluding others when they start to pursue sovereignty.
This system, he said, is moving toward multipolarity led by developing countries. “The world is becoming more equitable, fairer, because economic growth” is extending to “new centers of growth,” Putin stated. He noted that the BRICS countries alone account for nearly half of recent growth, compared to less than 20% among the G7.
“BRICS has already overtaken the G7… and this gap is increasing,” Putin said. “The G7 is going to grow at best by 1.1% per year whereas BRICS nations are going to grow by 4.4%,” he added, citing international institutions like the World Bank.
Putin pointed to the North-South Corridor, Russia’s new Arctic maritime route, and other new trade routes as evidence that the global trade system “is ceasing to be centered around the West.” He said trade between BRICS bloc countries exceeds $1 trillion annually, and that Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan are crucial in this process.
“The erosion of the World Trade Organization was set off by… the Western nations,” Putin said. “When it benefited them they promoted the WTO, but when the West started to lose this competition, its rules became more of a burden,” and they turned to sanctions.
The West’s “theft” of Russia’s international reserves was just another “pretext” for trying to constrain a competitor, but is actively facilitating the transition to a new system, he said. Sanctions have caused lasting damage to the global standing of the US dollar and the euro, the president emphasized.
“I would like to underscore that just as Russia can instantaneously lose access to their legitimate assets denominated in USD or euro, [other countries] can also lose access to the Western financial and payment infrastructure,” Putin stressed. “We all understand that this is all about unfair competition.”
Putin highlighted that Russia’s debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 15-16% of GDP, which he described as extremely low compared to those of other advanced European economies, where it often tops 100%. He added that the ruble’s share in exports is 65%, and continues to grow.
The BRICS countries’ high-tech sectors account for more than one-third of their exports, including AI, IT, and nuclear technologies, led by China, India, and Russia, Putin said. He noted that AI, autonomous systems promising to increase labor productivity, and digital platform-based solutions are key to further development.
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