The West’s campaign to economically isolate Russia has pushed the world economy into unknown territory, with food and energy prices skyrocketing.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the West has precipitated a global economic crisis and a wave of disastrous inflation by imposing the most punitive sanctions on Russia in recent history over the Ukraine conflict.
The United States and its allies imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia and the Russian elite in response to Putin’s February 24 command of a “special military operation” in Ukraine, which the Kremlin chief characterizes as a declaration of economic war.
Putin claimed that Western sanctions were fomenting a global crisis that will wreak havoc on the European Union and cause famine in some of the world’s poorest countries.
“The full guilt lies with the elites of Western countries, who are willing to sacrifice the rest of the globe in order to retain their global domination,” Putin stated during a televised government meeting on the economy.
Despite the strain, Putin stated that Russia was coping.
“Thanks to sensible macroeconomic measures in recent years and systemic initiatives to improve economic sovereignty, technical and food security, Russia is confidently coping with external problems.”
The West’s attempt to economically isolate Russia, one of the world’s largest suppliers of natural resources, has pushed the global economy into unknown territory, with food and energy prices skyrocketing.
According to a document obtained by Reuters from Russia’s finance ministry, the country’s economy will collapse by more than 12% in 2022, the largest loss in GDP since the years following the Soviet Union’s demise in 1991.
Putin cited the rouble’s growth as an example of Russia’s strong performance despite sanctions, saying it had become the best-performing currency this year.
The rouble strengthened to 65 per dollar on Thursday, a level last seen in early 2020, owing to capital controls imposed by Moscow to protect the economy following the deployment of tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24.
Putin also stated that Russia, as one of the world’s largest wheat exporters, is on course to harvest a record crop this year.
On Thursday, Putin informed his ministers that he wanted to talk about the initiatives that need to be taken to ensure sustained economic growth and higher real earnings. Russia’s inflation is on course to reach its highest level since 1999.
Maxim Reshetnikov, Russia’s economy minister, concurred with Putin that the economy was resilient, adding that the labor market was stable and inflation had begun to fall.
According to him, the Russian economy’s biggest concerns are supply chain interruptions and a significant fall in imports.
