Russian economy will thrive despite isolation call by west, says Putin

In a fiery speech at an economic forum, Putin called the US a fading power and said sanctions on Russia, not the Ukraine war, are hurting Western economies.

Moscow: In a fiery speech at an Economic Forum, Putin called the US a fading power and said sanctions on Russia, not the Ukraine war, are hurting Western economies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out at the United States on Friday calling it a fading power that treats its ally countries as colonies and said the west is falsely accusing its economic woes on the war in Ukraine. 

“We all hear about so-called Putin inflation in the West,” Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual business conference once known as “Russia’s Davos,” in a clear reference to President Biden's efforts to blame Russia for "inflation in the US" that is hurting American consumers. 

“When I see this, I always think: Who’s this meant for, this stupidity?” Putin said. “For someone who doesn’t know how to read or write.”

Putin addressed the forum at a time when the European Commission on Friday formally recommended that Ukraine be granted candidate status in the European Union, the first step in a long and arduous road that may have no immediate impact on the war, but could possibly boost its morale in these critical times. 

“We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective,” said Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, who opened Friday’s meeting of EU commissioners in Brussels. “We want them to live with us the European dream.”

However, Ukraine's induction into the bloc could could years. The European Commission has made recommendations to overhaul country's judicial system and government. The embattle country will have to guarantee an independent judiciary, weed out high-level corruption, adopt laws on the media, limit the influence of oligarchs, and improve legislation on money laundering and protecting minorities, the commission said.

In many ways, the war appears to have eased these tasks. The oligarchy is fading away, as some have fled and others have lost assets and revenue in the fighting, while the economy has become more dependent on foreign aid than on oligarch-dominated commodities exports.

Now that the country is in war, the security services, once controlled by the business tycoons and used to serve their interests, have now solidified their positions as institutions in order to defend the country, not the oligarchs.