It’s impossible to isolate Russia from the rest of the world, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, said at a plenary session at the Sochi International Investment Forum, adding that sanctions against Moscow won’t see the West achieving the desired results.
“It’s obvious, that one can’t speak with Russia – as well as
any other state – with the language of economic blackmail,”
Medvedev said.
The prime minister reminded the audience that Russia is the
world’s largest country and a nuclear power, with a population of
over 150 million people.
The country possesses huge amounts of natural resources as well
as a large market for goods, services and investment, he said.
It remains unclear what the Western countries, which applied
restrictive measures again Russia, really want to achieve,
Medvedev said:
“To build a new world order that is based on an
uncompromising confrontation? Or maybe just close their eyes
tight and pretend that Russia no longer exists? Isolate half of
the Eurasian continent from the rest of the world? Experience
shows that it’s impossible. Attempts to pressure even relatively
small states are ineffective, not to mention our country,”
he said.
The markets which became vacant after Russian countermeasures to
Western sanctions, will be quickly occupied by new players,
“primarily by domestic producers,” the head of the
government stressed.
Medvedev also said that the Russian market remains open to
Moscow’s partners in the Customs Union (Belarus, Kazakhstan) and
the CIS as well as enterprises from Latin America and Asia.
In early August, following several waves of sanctions by the US
and EU, President Putin signed a decree applying a year-long
embargo on a number of Western goods, food products in
particular.
It’s impossible to predict the impact that Western sanctions
against Russia “the world’s sixth largest economy” will
have, the PM said.
“However, one thing is clear now – it’s dismantling stability
of the global financial and trading system,” he stressed,
adding that there’s still a chance to stop this process.
Medvedev also expressed hope that the sanctions war won’t curb
the long-time efforts put into establishing effective relations
between Russia and the European Union.
“We all remember how much time and work it took to establish
Russia-EU relations. We appreciate it. And we wouldn’t like to
see those efforts to improve relations to be in vain,” he
said.
According to the prime minister, European businessmen now have
“a much better understanding [of the importance of good
relations with Russia] than the politicians.”
The PM said that European companies are the leading capital
providers into Russian economy, which have invested over $300
billion in the country.
“Not to mention the fact that Russia remains a key energy
supplier for European customers,” he added.
Over the years, the Sochi International Investment Forum has
established itself as the key investment event in Russia, widely
recognized by the global business community.
The 2014 Forum is being held between September 18-21 at the media
center of the Olympic Park, which hosted the Winters Games
earlier this year.
The main topic of the plenary session of the event is “Russia
between Europe and Asia: New regional policy under contemporary
conditions.”
Article source: http://rt.com/business/189124-medvedev-sanctions-russia-sochi/
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