AP, Russia :
Despite the showdown with the West over Ukraine, Moscow wants to cooperate with Washington and its allies in dealing with the threat posed by the Islamic State group and other global challenges, President Vladimir Putin said Friday as he tried to allay investors’ fears over Russia’s course.
Putin blamed the United States for ignoring Russia’s interests and trying to enforce its will on others, but he also sent conciliatory signals, saying that Moscow wants a quick settlement to the Iranian nuclear standoff and a peaceful political transition in Syria.
Speaking at a major economic forum, Putin also insisted that Russia wants February’s Ukraine peace agreement to succeed. Fighting there will stop, he said, once Ukraine provides broader rights to its eastern regions, gives amnesty to the rebels and calls local elections there.
The annual event, intended to burnish Russia’s image before global investors, was tarnished by the freezing of Russian accounts in France and Belgium on Thursday as part of an effort to enforce a $50 billion judgment to compensate shareholders of the now-defunct Yukos oil company.
At a meeting with top executives of global news agencies, including The Associated Press, which began nearly three hours behind schedule at around midnight, Putin sought to downplay the freeze and said that Russia will contest it.
Putin argued that the arbitration court in The Hague, Netherlands, which issued the ruling last year, does not have jurisdiction over Russia.
The court ruled that Russia must pay damages to shareholders in the oil company, which was dismantled in a politically driven onslaught that saw its chief executive, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, sentenced to 10 years in prison.
EU and U.S. sanctions over Ukraine have helped push Russia’s economy into recession and cut investment and imports dramatically. Putin, however, argued Friday that the Russian economy is on the path to recovery and that the West hurt itself by imposing the sanctions.
Asked about the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine last July that killed all 298 people on board and triggered the toughening of Western sanctions, Putin said it’s necessary to wait for the conclusions of the Dutch Safety Board, which is investigating the crash.
Controversy continues over who downed the airliner. Ukraine and the West suspect it was destroyed by a Russian surface-to-air missile fired by Russian soldiers or Russia-backed separatist rebels fighting in the area. Russia denies that.
Putin referred to an unofficial report alleging that the damage to the Malaysian airliner could have been inflicted by a missile launched from the area held by Ukrainian forces at the time.
Putin’s speech on the economy decidedly lacked any engagement on his part or specific proposals to turn around the economy. A large number of Russian and foreign investors in the audience were reading news or emails on their smartphones as Putin delivered a speech in which he did not address the severe crisis that businesses in Russia are facing.
Despite the showdown with the West over Ukraine, Moscow wants to cooperate with Washington and its allies in dealing with the threat posed by the Islamic State group and other global challenges, President Vladimir Putin said Friday as he tried to allay investors’ fears over Russia’s course.
Putin blamed the United States for ignoring Russia’s interests and trying to enforce its will on others, but he also sent conciliatory signals, saying that Moscow wants a quick settlement to the Iranian nuclear standoff and a peaceful political transition in Syria.
Speaking at a major economic forum, Putin also insisted that Russia wants February’s Ukraine peace agreement to succeed. Fighting there will stop, he said, once Ukraine provides broader rights to its eastern regions, gives amnesty to the rebels and calls local elections there.
The annual event, intended to burnish Russia’s image before global investors, was tarnished by the freezing of Russian accounts in France and Belgium on Thursday as part of an effort to enforce a $50 billion judgment to compensate shareholders of the now-defunct Yukos oil company.
At a meeting with top executives of global news agencies, including The Associated Press, which began nearly three hours behind schedule at around midnight, Putin sought to downplay the freeze and said that Russia will contest it.
Putin argued that the arbitration court in The Hague, Netherlands, which issued the ruling last year, does not have jurisdiction over Russia.
The court ruled that Russia must pay damages to shareholders in the oil company, which was dismantled in a politically driven onslaught that saw its chief executive, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, sentenced to 10 years in prison.
EU and U.S. sanctions over Ukraine have helped push Russia’s economy into recession and cut investment and imports dramatically. Putin, however, argued Friday that the Russian economy is on the path to recovery and that the West hurt itself by imposing the sanctions.
Asked about the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine last July that killed all 298 people on board and triggered the toughening of Western sanctions, Putin said it’s necessary to wait for the conclusions of the Dutch Safety Board, which is investigating the crash.
Controversy continues over who downed the airliner. Ukraine and the West suspect it was destroyed by a Russian surface-to-air missile fired by Russian soldiers or Russia-backed separatist rebels fighting in the area. Russia denies that.
Putin referred to an unofficial report alleging that the damage to the Malaysian airliner could have been inflicted by a missile launched from the area held by Ukrainian forces at the time.
Putin’s speech on the economy decidedly lacked any engagement on his part or specific proposals to turn around the economy. A large number of Russian and foreign investors in the audience were reading news or emails on their smartphones as Putin delivered a speech in which he did not address the severe crisis that businesses in Russia are facing.
