Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the continued sanctions being imposed by the West and her allies against Moscow for its military incursion in Ukraine would actually destabilise the global energy and food markets while also declaring that the country would emerge stronger from the crisis than expected.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that Putin’s ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine that kick started on February 24 has triggered unprecedented Western sanctions and sparked an exodus of international corporations from Russia which is aimed at crippling the Russian economy.
However, speaking on Thursday, Putin downplayed the massive sanctions, saying Moscow will find a way to ‘adapt’.
Speaking at a televised government meeting on the 15th day of Moscow’s advance into Ukraine, Putin said that Western sanctions on Moscow had begun to hurt the United States and Europe.
‘Their prices are rising, but that’s not our fault. It’s the result of their own miscalculations. There’s no need to blame us,‘ Putin said.
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While the 69-year-old Kremlin chief has continued to maintain that Moscow was continuing to export oil and gas, including through conflict-torn Ukraine, he blamed the West for sky-rocketing energy prices.
‘They are telling their citizens to tighten their belts, to dress warmer,’ Putin said.
He stressed that Russia was ‘respecting all of our obligations in terms of energy supplies.’
Putin scoffed at Washington for what he said were their efforts to sign energy contracts with Western adversaries Iran and Venezuela.
He also warned that the Western penalties could send global food prices soaring, as Russia was one of the world’s main producers of fertiliser.
‘If they continue to create problems for the financing and logistics of the delivery of our (fertiliser) goods, then prices will rise and this will affect the final product, food products,‘ he said.
European wholesale gas and crude oil have rocketed to record, or near-record prices this week due to supply fears linked to Putin’s decision to pour tens ot thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24.
The United States and Britain announced this week they were cutting off Russian energy imports in response to what the Kremlin has termed Moscow’s ‘special military operation,’ triggering another surge in prices.
The Russian leader also sought to calm Russians amid fears of shortages of food and medicines.
He acknowledged that Russians may be worried about an interruption of supplies but claimed there was nothing the Kremlin could not solve.
‘It is clear that in such moments people’s demands for certain categories of goods always increase, but we have no doubt that we will solve these problems in due course in a calm way and gradually people will find their way,’ Putin said.
He said he believed Russians would ‘understand that there are no events that we cannot solve, they simply do not exist.’
He went on to insist that the current crisis would make the country stronger.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK