Moscow-Sana
Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the United States' problem with his country is its desire to stop Moscow's development and limit its growth, and its public recognition of this.
"We have no differences with the United States... They have only one difference, which is that they want to curb our development and they are talking about it openly," Putin said during his participation in the plenary session of the Petersburg International Economic Forum today.
On his expectations from his upcoming meeting with his American counterpart Joe Biden in Geneva on June 16, Putin said we will discuss issues of bilateral relations and try to find ways to settle these relations, which are today at a "very low level," noting that the root interests in the field of security and strategic stability are more important than circumstances. current politics in the United States.
"We will talk about strategic stability and conflict resolution in the hottest regions, and I hope we will talk about the disarmament process, the fight against terrorism, the fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic and environmental issues," Putin added.
Putin pointed out that relations between Moscow and Washington have in many respects become hostage to political processes within the United States, expressing his hope that the situation related to US sanctions against Russia will end at some point in the future.
Putin called for abandoning double standards and double standards when dealing with similar situations in different countries, and said that "countries that present themselves as democracies are witnessing the same treatment of demonstrators and opponents."
Putin added that "democratic countries use democratic rubber bullets to hit the eyes of the demonstrators," calling for giving the people of Belarus a chance to decide their own destiny.
Putin recalled the incident where a plane belonging to former Bolivian President Evo Morales was forcibly landed and searched in Vienna in 2013, noting that this is not the only event of its kind, but no one is currently talking about those accidents.
The Russian President stressed that ensuring the equitable distribution of vaccines against the Corona virus in the world is a necessary condition for overcoming the pandemic, expressing his regret over the politicization of this issue by some countries.
Putin explained that the process of resuming the global economy after the largest recession it has witnessed since World War II due to the Corona pandemic comes “unbalancedly”, which threatens to widen gaps between and within countries, pointing out that this matter is reflected especially in the file of fighting Corona and distributing vaccines.
Putin indicated that the threat of a pandemic will remain unless widespread access to vaccines is ensured on all continents, considering that things are currently developing in a different direction, as only about 10% of people worldwide have received the first or two doses of the vaccine until today, while hundreds of millions are still Unable to receive the vaccination because their countries do not have the technologies, production capacities and resources to obtain the vaccine.
“In the global fight against the coronavirus, we see that either there is no tangible support, despite the need for it, or an absurdly politicized ban on the acquisition of effective vaccines that has proven their full effectiveness,” Putin said.
Putin pointed out that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is the most effective and safe vaccine in the world, with an effective rate of more than 96 percent, without any deaths as a result of receiving it, according to the data of the Russian monitoring bodies.
In response to some describing the Sputnik vaccine as a Russian weapon, Putin stressed that these statements are a battle for money by vaccine manufacturers in other countries and they want to control the European market.
On the issue of climate change, the Russian President reiterated his country's firm interest in combating the challenge of climate change and the existing risks and threats in this field, including desertification, soil erosion and thawing permafrost.
Putin indicated that Russia is adopting a gradual approach in support of the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto and Paris agreements, stressing that there is no European, Asian or American weather, but rather global weather that affects everyone.
Putin said that "the Russian government has put forward a goal to reduce the accumulated emissions of greenhouse gases in the country to a level below that in Europe within 30 years," expressing his conviction that this goal is ambitious and achievable.
Putin stressed that Russia will continue to reduce emissions from hydrocarbon production, modernize the thermal energy sector, and gradually transition to electric and gas-powered transportation and hybrid engines, explaining that the existing plans call for a comprehensive technological modernization of the economy and the entire infrastructure.
Regarding the North Stream gas project, Putin announced the completion of the first pipeline of (North Stream 2), a project to extend two pipelines of gas from Russia to Germany across the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
Putin explained that the second pipeline would be completed within two months, indicating that the Russian energy company (Gazprom) was ready to pump gas into the two pipelines, but the pumping date depends on the German side.
Putin indicated that Russia is ready to consider the possibility of paying for gas in euros and the national currencies of the countries it deals with, expecting that dropping the US dollar as a major currency in the global crude oil trade will cause a major blow to its position as a major reserve currency.