Western attempts to isolate and punish Russia have backfired on their creators, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. Speaking to a group of young entrepreneurs in Moscow, he pointed out the economic consequences of anti-Russian sanctions on the countries that imposed them.
“If someone tries to contain us in some regard, they ultimately contain themselves,” Putin told a group of young entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists in Moscow, ahead of the upcoming session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
“For example, they limit the exportation of our fertilizers – and their prices go up, far more than here. They try to limit our energy exports, and their prices go sky-high. They even try using my name to label their inflation, but the reality is we have absolutely nothing to do with it!” he said, to laughter from the audience.
The latter appeared to be a reference to US President Joe Biden’s insistence that the record price of gas at American pumps was a “Putin price hike,” though polls show most Americans are not convinced.