Putin: By freezing Russian assets abroad, Western countries are undermining confidence in their own currencies

Russian President Vladimir Putin said today at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg that by freezing Russian assets abroad, Western countries are undermining confidence in their own currencies.

"Sanctions and the blocking of Russian state reserves have irreversibly affected the status of international currencies - dollars and euros," Putin said, adding that now, "just like Russia, any other country may lose access to its legitimate assets in dollars or euros, as well as to Western financial and payment systems."

Putin has argued that high national debts are undermining trust in Western institutions.

Developing countries, he said, are playing an increasingly important role in the world economy, while the share of Western countries is decreasing, and he accused the West of undermining the world economy and finance through the use of unilateral sanctions.

"The root of the current global turbulence lies in the transition from a vertical, hierarchical model that served the interests of a small number of countries to a more complex, distributive and multipolar model. Russia sees in global changes not only a threat, but also enormous opportunities. We intend to act quickly and pragmatically, in order to profit from them," Putin said.

The forum is taking place at a time when Russia's economy is under pressure from its war in Ukraine: The government has increased taxes and issued government bonds to keep the budget deficit under control.

Putin is using the forum in St. Petersburg, the counterpart to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to showcase his country's economic progress and encourage foreign investment.

While Western leaders and the global business elite have been staying away from Putin since he sent Russian troops to occupy Ukraine in 2022, Russia is looking for guests elsewhere to show it is sticking to its proclaimed goal of a "multipolar world."

Saudi Arabia sent a large delegation this year. The presidents of Uzbekistan and Tanzania came, as well as the vice president of China. The United States sent its first representative in a long time - the head of the US Commission on Fine Arts, Rodney Mims Cook Jr.