Putin: Russia will not build a military alliance Friendship with China is not against one side
Source: Global Network
On September 10, local time, the 8th Eastern Economic Forum opened in Primorsky Krai, Russia. According to a number of Russian media reports such as RIA Novosti and TASS, Russian President Putin attended the plenary meeting of the forum on the 12th and made the latest remarks on topics such as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the global economy.
On September 12, Putin spoke at the Eastern Economic Forum. Source: Screenshot of RIA Novosti video
About the global economy
According to RIA Novosti, Putin said at the forum on the same day that the global economy continues to change, mainly due to the destruction of the trade and financial systems by some Western countries. Against this backdrop, there are more and more countries in various regions that wish to cooperate sincerely and pragmatically, and these countries do not succumb to any external pressure, but are guided by their own interests.
Putin also said that at present, a new model of integration is emerging, which is different from the West, the former is characterized by openness, and its purpose is to benefit all mankind and the developing multipolar world.
About the Russian-Ukrainian conflict
According to RIA Novosti, Putin said at the forum on the same day that the practice of other countries providing cluster munitions to Ukraine "has not changed anything" on the battlefield. The Ukrainian army has lost 71,000 people, 543 tanks and 18,000 armored vehicles during the counteroffensive.
He also said that if the Americans believe that Ukraine is ready to negotiate, they will first ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to revoke the order prohibiting negotiations with the Russian side.
He said that relevant data show that about 160 cultural activists who disagree with the position of the Russian leadership on the topic of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict have left Russia.
On the relations between the United States and the West and Russia, Sino-Russian relations
According to TASS, Putin also said that "there is a trend in which our entrepreneurs used to create their own platforms abroad, and later they ran into the problem of confiscation of legally earned funds." This is simply the act of crossing all boundaries. But those who confiscate funds don't even understand the negative impact on themselves, and until now, they haven't paid attention to it."
According to RIA Novosti, Putin issued an appeal at the forum to Russian entrepreneurs who are under pressure in the West. He said it is more reliable to invest in Russia. "We have a lot of entrepreneurs who encounter a certain amount of pressure from individual partners, I said a word to our entrepreneurs before, and today I want to say it again: there is no doubt that it is better to invest in Russia, it is more reliable to do so." He also said that these investments will involve large-scale infrastructure projects and urban tourism development projects. "Don't fall twice in the same place." He said.
Putin also said that the diplomatic work carried out by one country cannot contradict the interests of other countries, but the West values interests only, so they have no friends.
Referring to the statement that former US President Trump maintains a special relationship with the Russian side, Putin said that those who made these claims were "talking nonsense." "He (Trump) is accused of having a special relationship with Russia, which is nonsense. In fact, he imposed more sanctions on Russia during his presidency. Putin said that it is difficult to say who will be elected president of the United States in the future, but the US policy towards Russia may not change significantly, because the current US administration has made American society hold anti-Russian concepts.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on September 3, 2020. Data map/Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie
Speaking about Russian-Chinese relations, Putin said at the forum that Russian-Chinese cooperation has reached an unprecedented level in recent years, which applies to describing all areas of cooperation between the two sides, according to the Russian Satellite News Agency. He also said that Russia will not forge military alliances and that friendship with China is not to oppose one side or the other.
Speaking of the West's position on China, Putin said that seeing China's rapid development, the West will try to obstruct China's development, but this attempt will not succeed.
About the development of the Far East
According to RIA Novosti, Putin said that the Russian Far East plays a very important role for Russia and its future, for Russia to maintain its position in a multipolar world. "I would like to recall a sentence from the State of the Union address 10 years ago: Achieving advanced development in the Far East is our priority in the 21st century, and it is also the common responsibility and work to be carried out by the Russian federal government and local governments, state-owned enterprises and private enterprises." He said: Developing the Russian Far East is Russia's strategic priority in the 21st century.
Regarding Russia's economic, transport and infrastructure programs in the Far East, Putin said that the most important goals are to improve the quality of life of residents, create comfortable and modern conditions for residents to study, work, and play, and achieve "sustainable growth" of the population of the Far East.
Speaking about infrastructure construction, Putin said that Russia will build highways through Siberia and the Far East and directly to the Pacific region.
In addition, according to TASS, Putin also mentioned the American entrepreneur Musk, calling the latter an excellent person, as well as an active and talented entrepreneur.
Further reading
What signal does Putin want to send to the outside world?
The Eastern Economic Forum opened in Vladivostok
Straight news: The Eastern Economic Forum opened in Vladivostok on the 10th. The Russian side said that about 7,000 people, including media representatives from more than 50 countries, are expected to participate.
Liu Xu, researcher at the Institute of Eurasian Studies at Chinese Minmin University: I think the Eastern Economic Forum held this time is of great significance to Russia. We know that Russia has always held several such international economic forums in important cities, which can be said to be very important representative activities of Russian economic diplomacy, including the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in May and the Eastern Economic Forum around September every year. Then a very important feature of this year is that in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the continuation of such a very important meeting, in fact, for Russia, it wants to show that Russia is still based on economic development in such a difficult situation, and in fact is not completely overwhelmed by Western sanctions.
On the other hand, it also hopes to give a clear signal to the outside world that Russia is still committed to opening up, still committed to all-round cooperation with other countries, and the most important is cooperation in the economic field. In this regard, we have seen that this forum is attended by representatives of both friendly and non-friendly countries, and in fact the forum is still mainly based on economic development, so countries with different ideologies may be invited.
However, we can also find that at this forum, it is clear that the size of the heads of delegations of various countries has decreased compared to the past, and a few countries will send a deputy prime minister or above, while the heads of state are very few, which also highlights the relatively difficult situation that Russia now faces in the entire international community.
The size of the heads of delegations of the countries of the Forum has decreased compared to the past
Straight news: Russia's economy grew by 4.9% in the second quarter of 2023 and is likely to grow by 1.5% to 2% for the full year, indicating that the Russian economy has not been hit as much as the outside world predicts due to the conflict. In this context, what is the significance of the forum for Russia's promotion of foreign cooperation?
Liu Xu, a researcher at the Institute of Eurasia Studies at Chinese Minmin University: Russia's GDP growth is actually a very good indicator, showing the efforts made by the government in the overall relatively difficult international situation.
On the other hand, we also see that this is also a distinctive feature of the overall economic structure of Russia. Russia's main engine of the economy, one is exports, the other is consumption. In fact, in terms of domestic consumption, it can still maintain a certain growth rate. In terms of exports, since most of Russia's exports are still commodities, and commodities are still in great demand in the international market. So although we are now seeing various sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia, in fact, there is no significant change in the export volume of commodities in Russia, such as commodities such as grain, there is rigid demand, of course, the price will be affected to a certain extent.
So we see that these two points also support the Russian economy from getting worse under Western sanctions. So on the other hand, we see that in different currencies, it may be significantly different, for example, whether it is denominated in rubles or in dollars, and GDP will be very different. Of course, we are linked to the rapid decline and rapid depreciation of the ruble against the dollar, so whether the Russian economy can maintain the current speed in the future is actually worth paying special attention to.
Putin Infographic
Straight news: Putin is expected to attend the meeting on the 12th. In addition to the speech, there will be a series of foreign affairs activities. What signal does Russia want to send to the outside world?
Liu Xu, researcher at the Institute of Eurasian Studies at Chinese Minmin University: Putin can participate in such a Far East Economic Forum, I think there are several very important signals that will be released.
The first thing to prove is that from Russia's point of view, from the head of state to the local government, they attach great importance to their traditional economic diplomacy, sending a signal that they must continue to do it no matter how difficult the international situation is.
On the other hand, Putin also needs to show his control over Russia to his own people and the international community as a whole, and his personal influence will be shown in economic forums.
At the same time, we also see that Russia is now facing a relatively difficult situation, but it can still bring together so many representatives of countries to hold such a traditional economic forum, which actually highlights the confidence of the entire Russian government, including Putin, in Russia's future development direction.
Zelensky met with Japanese Foreign Minister Fangzheng Hayashi
Straight news: South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue expressed his position at the G20 summit to strengthen economic assistance to Ukraine, and Japanese Foreign Minister Lin Fangzheng also paid a surprise visit to Kiev just now. What do you think of the latest moves by Japan and South Korea, as close neighbors of Russia, on the Ukraine crisis?
Liu Xu, a researcher at the Institute of Eurasia Studies at Chinese Minmin University: Japan and South Korea are traditional allies of the United States, but the relationship between these allies is more concentrated in East Asia. In fact, for the European part of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the traditional attention of Japan and South Korea is much smaller than that of European countries. But as allies of the United States and important members of what we call Western countries in the international community, these two countries actually want to maintain the same tone of Russia as a whole. So what we've seen at the top of Japan and South Korea, the visit to Ukraine, and the recent series of commitments reflect that position.
So we see that although the G20 did not pass the relevant condemnation of Russia, in fact, we see that the overall atmosphere has not changed, and the most important role should be India.
India as the chair of the G20, and India has always maintained a relatively neutral attitude on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, so for the United States and Western countries, India needs to make a gesture. And from Russia's point of view, it is also hoped that India will be on its side. Now we see that India actually has a very large room for diplomatic mediation in this regard, so India's choice of more neutral is also to make maximum use of its position to obtain the greatest possible diplomatic interests.
The author丨Liu Xu is a researcher at the Institute of Eurasian Studies, Chinese Minmin University