
Putin calls on Russia's partners to discuss new global model of growth
Russia is calling on its partners to take part in shaping a new global growth model aimed at ensuring stable development worldwide, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. Speaking at the main plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), he stressed the need to create a fair and open platform for global progress.
'Russia invites its partners to contribute to the formation of a new global growth model that will ensure the prosperity of our countries and the stable development of the entire world for many, many years to come,' Putin said. 'To that end, we held an Open Dialogue in Moscow this year, titled 'The Future of the World: A New Platform for Global Growth', which brought together representatives from over a hundred countries. We intend not only to make this format a regular occurrence but also to build an entire ecosystem around it for discussing, developing, and implementing breakthrough ideas.'
Putin noted that the challenges facing the modern world undoubtedly require a collective response. He argued that it is impossible to solve such problems alone, especially at the expense of others. Only joint efforts through organizations like BRICS and other international platforms can ensure the advancement of global civilization, he concluded.
The Open Dialogue, held in April at the RUSSIA National Center, welcomed more than 100 guests from 48 countries. Participants explored the future through four main themes: 'Investments in Human Capital', 'Investments in Technology', 'Investments in the Environment', and 'Investments in Communication'.
Summing up the outcome of the Open Dialogue during one of the SPIEF sessions, Maksim Oreshkin, deputy head of President Putin's administration, noted that the initiative had received broad international attention. 'It is through such an Open Dialogue that our future, and our understanding of that future, is being shaped,' Oreshkin said.
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Russia Today
28 minutes ago
- Russia Today
Kiev's sovereignty, worsening positions & ‘final mistake': Key takeaways from Putin's Q&A
Moscow is not seeking the 'unconditional surrender' of Ukraine but wants it to acknowledge the realities on the ground, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the audience at SPIEF 2025, commenting on various aspects of the Ukraine conflict, Russia's goals and potential directions for resolving the crisis. President Putin took part in the plenary session of the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2025) on Friday, delivering a major speech and participating in a Q&A session. Here are the key takeaways concerning the conflict in Ukraine:Kiev's surrender Asked whether Moscow expects an 'unconditional surrender' from Kiev – similar to the demand his US counterpart Donald Trump is making of Iran – the Russian president said that was not the case, reiterating Russia's readiness to resolve the conflict through diplomacy.'We are not seeking the surrender of Ukraine. We insist on recognition of the realities that have developed on the ground,' he said. Worsening negotiation positions Russia has consistently attempted to settle the conflict in the then-Ukrainian Donbass, which erupted after the Western-backed 2014 Maidan coup, through diplomatic means, the president said. However, those efforts were repeatedly undermined by Kiev and its backers.'At each stage, we suggested to those with whom we were in contact in Ukraine to stop and said, 'Let's negotiate now. Because this logic of purely military actions can result in your situation getting worse, and then we will have to conduct our negotiations from other positions, from positions that are worse for you.' This happened several times,' Putin said. Foreign-fueled conflict Negotiations held in Istanbul in early 2022, shortly after the conflict escalated, fell apart under pressure from the same 'neocolonial forces,' Putin added.'Those who are guided by old, neocolonial principles, including and above all in Europe, thought that now they would easily profit at the expense of Russia: crush it, destroy it, annihilate it, and receive some dividends from this,' he said. Ukraine's sovereignty Russia has never denied Ukraine's right to exist as an independent nation, Putin said. However, in the years since the Soviet Union's collapse, the country has drifted from the principles on which it originally gained its independence. 'The grounds on which Ukraine became independent and sovereign were set out in the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine of 1991, where it is clearly written in black and white that Ukraine is a non-aligned, non-nuclear, neutral state. It would be a good idea to return to these fundamental values on which Ukraine gained its independence and sovereignty,' he the same time, Putin reiterated his belief that, in a certain sense, all of Ukraine is Russian. 'I have said many times that I consider Russians and Ukrainians to be one people, in fact. In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours,' he said. Obtaining and using a nuclear device of any sort, including a crude 'dirty bomb,' would be a 'final mistake' for Kiev, the Russian president warned. Such an action would trigger a 'mirror response' from Moscow with 'catastrophic' consequences for Ukraine.'Our response will be very harsh and, most likely, catastrophic for both the neo-Nazi regime and, unfortunately, for Ukraine itself. I hope that they will never come to that,' Putin said, adding that Moscow currently has no intelligence suggesting Kiev is pursuing such a military thinned out Kiev's forces are suffering from severe manpower shortages, with units at only 47% of full strength on average, Putin stated. He said Ukraine's attack on Russia's Kursk Region last August – driven by political rather than military reasoning – worsened the situation and further stretched its forces along an expanded frontline. 'They got into Kursk Region. First of all, they lost 76,000 people there. It was a disaster for them,' Putin said. 'In the end, as we said, we drove them out of there, but they created a threat to us... along the entire line of the state border with Ukraine, in two other neighboring regions,' he actions created an additional 1,600 km-long line of contact, he noted. 'They pulled apart all their armed forces. It is hard to imagine bigger stupidity from a military point of view,' he said. Russian troops could go deeper into Ukraine Putin did not rule out the possibility of advancing further into Ukrainian territory to establish a 'buffer zone' protecting Russian border areas from ongoing attacks by Kiev's the defeat of Ukrainian forces in Kursk, Russian troops moved into Ukraine's Sumy Region. According to Putin, the buffer zone there is already up to 12 km deep.'We don't have the goal of taking Sumy, but in principle, I don't rule it out,' he said.


Russia Today
2 hours ago
- Russia Today
Russia ready to hand over 3,000 more bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers
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Russia Today
4 hours ago
- Russia Today
Assad general reveals new life in central Russia
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