Fighting sanctions dominates Putin’s annual address
December 4, 2014, 10:06 am

Putin delivering the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly on 4 December 2014 [PPIO]

Putin vowed not to succumb to Western pressure tactics like “sanctions and threats” while laying the impetus on Russian economic independence.

“Russia has the ability to make unorthodox decisions in order to provide for the country’s security. Russia will remain open for foreign investment and joint projects,” said Putin in Moscow.

To offset the impact of sanctions, Putin announced a multi-billion dollar welfare fund to under-write low-interest business loans and offered amnesty for offshore money coming back to Russia.

Putin, however, stressed Russia will never embark on a “path of self-isolation, xenophobia or enemy-searching” in the face of sustained attempts by the US to isolate the country and its leaders internationally.

At the Kremlin’s St George Hall, addressing an audience of more than 1,000 people, Putin said the US is trying to undermine the Russian economy and that Western sanctions would have been imposed regardless of Crimea and Ukraine.

Putin admitted that Russia faces “difficult, intense times” but asserted that “sanctions and foreign limitations serve as an impetus for development”.

Russia is the world’s biggest energy exporter but its economy has been weakened by US and European sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

The Russian ruble slumped 9.3 per cent last week to 50.4085 per dollar.

China and Russia have rallied efforts bilaterally and within the BRICS bloc to create a multipolar world that is not dominated by the US. The two countries have signed massive energy deals this year, coordinated positions on international affairs at the UN and G20, aided significantly by Beijing’s criticism of Western sanctions on Russia.

The annual tradition of the state’s leader delivering a state of the nation address began in February 1994 when the first such address was given by Former President Boris Yeltsin.

TBP