Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of colonial arrogance and said its sanctions "blitzkrieg" against his country has failed in his latest tirade against the United States and Europe.
Addressing the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 17 -- a showcase event being held this year with almost no Western participation -- Putin defended his country’s invasion of Ukraine, which many in the United States and Europe say is akin to the colonization wars of past centuries.
Putin baselessly claimed that the main aim of the unprovoked invasion was to defend "our" people in the largely Russian-speaking Donbas region of eastern Ukraine -- a justification that Kyiv and the West dismiss as a baseless pretext for his imperialist ambitions.
Days before the economic forum, Putin had likened himself to 17th-century Czar Peter the Great, who expanded the Russian empire following the defeat of Sweden in 1709.
Putin claimed Russia was “forced” to invade Ukraine and said he would push ahead with the 4-month-old war despite facing fierce resistance by Ukrainian forces and significant losses of men and equipment.
The Russian president lashed out at the United States for its role in global affairs, saying Washington considers itself "God's emissary on Earth.”
He said Russia would be playing a greater role in what he called an emerging new world order.
"Nothing will be as it used to be in global politics," he said.
He also dismissed the West’s sanction regime, saying predictions of economic collapse in Russia have been grossly overstated.
Western experts say Russia’s economy could contract as much as 15 percent this year due to the sanctions, though the impact would be felt mainly in the second half of the year.
Putin also said that the sanctions would ricochet hard against Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian energy.
Separately, Putin dismissed Western accusations that Moscow is responsible for a sharp rise in global grain prices due to what Washington and Brussels say is a Russian naval blockade of ports in Ukraine, a major exporter of wheat and sunflower oil.
He claimed Russia was ready to guarantee the transit of ships exporting Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea and that Ukraine had alternative land routes, something Western experts say is not feasible.
The St. Petersburg Economic Forum once gathered thousands of business leaders from around the world, including the CEOs of top Western firms, to discuss Russia's development and announce blockbuster investment deals inside the country.
Western participation declined following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and all but ceased this year as hundreds of companies -- from Coca Cola to Exxon -- have announced their exit from the country after the invasion of Ukraine in February.
