The West's sanctions against Russia are not a reason determining the problems in the world economy, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
‘The sanctions certainly affect the general tone of the world economy, which is not very strong as it is, but they are not the decisive factor. The decisive factor is the general condition of the world economy, which has still not reached a steady development trend after the 2008-2010 crisis,’ Putin said at a press conference in Milan on Friday.
‘Nothing new has happened over the past years: it hasn’t become significantly better; true, it hasn’t become significantly worse, either,’ he said.
‘But I still more an optimist than a pessimist and think that everything will stabilize gradually,’ Putin said.
