Russian President criticises sanctions President Putin

Herald Reporter

Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticised Western countries for imposing sanctions against some countries in the world that hinder their access to international assistance and ability to fight diseases such as Covid-19.

He was speaking at the plenary session of the 18th annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club on Thursday last week, whose theme was: “Global Shake-up in the 21st Century: The Individual, Values and the State.”

The four-day programme included over 15 in-person and online sessions.

“I am not referring to Russia now, let’s leave the sanctions against Russia for now; I mean the sanctions that remain in place against those states that badly need international assistance,” said President Putin. 

“Where are the humanitarian fundamentals of Western political thought? It appears there is nothing there, just idle talk. Do you understand? This is what seems to be on the surface.”

Zimbabwe is one of the countries under illegal sanctions imposed by some Western countries that have hindered its progress in development.

On Monday, the SADC region marked the Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Day in protest against the illegal embargo which has also affected their well-being.

Covid-19, said President Putin, had become another reminder of how fragile the human race was.

“We are talking about the need to counter the coronavirus infection together, but nothing changes; everything remains the same despite the humanitarian considerations,” he said.

President Putin said verbally, all states talked about their commitment to the ideals of cooperation and a willingness to work together for resolving common problems but these were just words. 

“In reality, the opposite is happening, and the pandemic (Covid-19) has served to fuel the negative trends that emerged long ago and are now only getting worse,. 

“The approach based on the proverb, “your own shirt is closer to the body,” has finally become common and is now no longer even concealed. Moreover, this is often even a matter of boasting and brandishing. Egotistic interests prevail over the notion of the common good.”

President Putin said there was need to face the fact that global governance institutions were not always effective and their capabilities were not always up to the challenge posed by the dynamics of global processes. 

“To put it bluntly, the Western domination of international affairs, which began several centuries ago and, for a short period, was almost absolute in the late 20th century, is giving way to a much more diverse system,” he said.

President Putin said the world was today facing systemic changes in all directions, from increasingly complicated geophysical condition of the planet to a more paradoxical interpretation of what a human is and what the reasons for his existence are.

 “I would like to add that the transformation that we are seeing and are part of is of a different calibre than the changes that repeatedly occurred in human history, at least those we know about,” said President Putin. 

“This is not simply a shift in the balance of forces or scientific and technological breakthroughs, though both are also taking place. Of course, we must be aware of the danger and be ready to counter it, and not just one threat but many diverse threats that can arise in this era of change.”

President Putin said it was equally important to recall a second component of the crisis, that is opportunities that must not be missed since the crisis being faced are conceptual and even civilisation-related. 

He said he was convinced that it was necessary to fight for real values, upholding them in every way.

“Humanity entered into a new era about three decades ago when the main conditions were created for ending military-political and ideological confrontation.

“A search for a new balance, sustainable relations in the social, political, economic, cultural and military areas and support for the world system was launched at that time. We were looking for this support but must say that we did not find it, at least so far.”

“Meanwhile, those who felt like the winners after the end of the Cold War (we have also spoken about this many times) and thought they climbed Mount Olympus soon discovered that the ground was falling away underneath even there, and this time it was their turn, and nobody could “stop this fleeting moment” no matter how fair it seemed.”

President Putin cited climate change and environmental degradation as one of the problems afflicting humans.

He said natural disasters such as droughts, floods, hurricanes and tsunamis had almost become the new normal, and people were getting used to them. 

To increase chance of survival, he said, there was need to rethink how “we go about our lives, how we run our households, how cities develop or how they should develop; we need to reconsider economic development priorities of entire states”. 

President Putin said socio-economic problems facing humankind had worsened to the point where, in the past, they would trigger worldwide shocks, such as world wars or bloody social cataclysms. 

Everyone, he said, was saying the current model of capitalism which underlies the social structure in the overwhelming majority of countries had run its course and no longer offered a solution to a host of increasingly tangled differences.

“Everywhere, even in the richest countries and regions, the uneven distribution of material wealth has exacerbated inequality, primarily, inequality of opportunities both within individual societies and at the international level,” he said. 

“Furthermore, a number of countries and even entire regions are regularly hit by food crises. 

“We will probably discuss this later, but there is every reason to believe that this crisis will become worse in the near future and may reach extreme forms.”

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