London (agencies)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that the Russian economy will not be isolated from the world, despite the sanctions imposed by the West on his country, because Moscow will not surround itself with an “iron curtain” as the Soviet Union did.
Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its attack on Ukraine pushed Moscow, one of the world’s largest producers of natural resources, into the biggest economic contraction since the years after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Asked about potential deals with partners such as China and India amid the Russian economy’s “shutdown”, Putin said, speaking ahead of next week’s St Petersburg Economic Forum that the Russian economy would remain open. “We will not have a closed economy,” he added, speaking to young entrepreneurs in a televised meeting.
He continued, “We did not have a closed economy, or rather it happened in the Soviet era when we isolated ourselves and created the so-called Iron Curtain, and we will not make the same mistake again.”
#Putin #Russia #surround #iron #curtain