The world needs a modern, flexible financial architecture, free from the risks of prohibitions and barriers, and with incentives for sovereign development. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
„The world needs a modern, flexible and responsible financial architecture, free from the risks of prohibitions and barriers, and with incentives for sovereign development. Its instruments should reduce costs, speed up payments, expand access to finance and, of course, with appropriate measures to combat tax evasion, fraud and money laundering. Naturally, this should always be considered“, the Russian president noted.
The West lost interest in common trade rules after it started losing in the competitive struggle.
“When it was profitable for them, they promoted the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its ideas, inviting other countries to participate. But when the West started losing in the competitive struggle, the common universal trade rules that were introduced within the WTO became uninteresting and burdensome“, he said.
Putin stressed that the West itself had closed the WTO mechanism by resorting to sanctions, undermining trust in the organization. “Unilateral restrictions and so-called sanctions were introduced. In this way, Western countries effectively closed the WTO mechanism and undermined trust in these institutions. If there is no trust and the institution is no longer functioning properly, then business and governments will find another solution. And it exists – in the form of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements“, the president noted.
The West has deliberately created a global mechanism for resource extraction. As the president stated, for decades the global development model has been built around a limited number of financial centers, technological solutions, insurance and logistics centers, rating agencies and reserve currencies.
The global development model, developed over decades and presented by the West as universal and neutral, was in fact a deliberately designed system for resource extraction and dependency.
„I would like to draw attention to what happened before. For decades the global development model has been built around a limited number of financial centers, technological solutions, insurance and logistics centers, rating agencies and reserve currencies. This structure has been presented as universal, as supposedly suitable for everyone and most importantly - as supposedly neutral. "In essence, it was a deliberately created system of dependence or resource extraction," the Russian leader stressed.
Putin also noted that in practice this mechanism often functions as a tool for pressure. "In reality, the Western system was increasingly used as a tool for political pressure and unfair competition, when payments, technologies, logistics or even access to information could be interrupted for a moment in order to punish those who decided to act in their own national interests," Putin said.
“Today, the majority of countries see this. Entrepreneurs, banks, industrial companies, farmers and carriers see it. It has become clear that investment plans and business development efforts can face serious risks. The risk that the external infrastructure they rely on will be used against them“, the president said.
“So, countries are starting to develop their own technological solutions, create their own supply routes and their own institutions“, the Russian leader concluded.
“Now I want to emphasize that all countries without exception, such as Russia, can at any moment lose access to their legitimate assets held in dollars or euros, as well as in the Western financial and payment infrastructure“, he said.
Russia's partners mainly use national currencies; the share of the ruble in Russia's export transactions is currently 65%.
The Russian president drew attention to the difficult state of Western public finances, including high public debt and large budget deficits. “This situation is fraught with a new surge in inflation for Western currencies, as we have already seen in 2021-2022, when prices in the eurozone and the US rose by 14% in two years. It is obvious that under these conditions, countries are reducing their assets in the West and switching to national currencies. They are increasingly using alternative payment systems and increasing the role of digital financial assets, including digital currencies of their central banks,“ he added.
“Russia already uses mainly national currencies in its trade relations with its leading partners. Thus, the share of the ruble in our export transactions is currently 65%, or almost two-thirds,“, said the head of state.