Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the BRICS business forum, sharply criticising Western nations for their "unseemly" attempts to regain global economic leadership through destructive means and unfair sanctions. He highlighted that BRICS nations collectively account for a much larger share of global economic output than the G7 countries, which he questioned the relevance of. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian echoed the criticism of sanctions, particularly linking their increased severity to military aggression and stressing the inseparability of economic, national, and regional security.

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the BRICS business forum, sharply criticising Western nations for their "unseemly" attempts to regain global economic leadership through destructive means and unfair sanctions. He highlighted that BRICS nations collectively account for a much larger share of global economic output than the G7 countries, which he questioned the relevance of. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian echoed the criticism of sanctions, particularly linking their increased severity to military aggression and stressing the inseparability of economic, national, and regional security.

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the BRICS business forum, sharply criticising Western nations for their "unseemly" attempts to regain global economic leadership through destructive means and unfair sanctions. He highlighted that BRICS nations collectively account for a much larger share of global economic output than the G7 countries, which he questioned the relevance of. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian echoed the criticism of sanctions, particularly linking their increased severity to military aggression and stressing the inseparability of economic, national, and regional security.

Addressing the BRICS business forum on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the bloc's Western competitors are trying to regain their "former leadership" in an "unseemly" fashion.

He said the West is resorting to destruction of facilities and pipelines and seizures of vessels to maintain economic leadership.

Pointing out that the G7 countries accounted for around 18 per cent of the global economic output, which is far less than 40 per cent for BRICS nations.

"I don’t know why they call them that [G7]," said Putin. Interestingly, Russia was a part of the erstwhile G8 before it was removed from the grouping in 2014 over Crimea annexation. The G7 consists of the remaining G8 members, including the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

He also slammed the Western countries over unfair sanctions, adding that despite the restrictions, Russia had maintained its economic performance.

"The world is undergoing structural, deep, profound shifts... The so-called old leaders, which used to be the vanguard of economic growth, are being replaced by new engines of growth," he added.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also slammed the harsh sanctions imposed by the US, saying "these pressures have reached a far more dangerous phase as a result of the military aggression."

"This active aggression, in addition to human and material losses, once again revealed an important reality – economic security cannot be separated from national or regional security," he said.

Pezeshkian also called for trade in national currencies, proposing that the New Development Bank become the principal engine for financing infrastructure and energy in member countries through dedicated credit lines, local currency financing and guarantee instruments.

TAGS