Vladimir Putin: “Sovereignty cannot be fragmented in the 21st century”

“Sovereignty cannot be segmented or fragmented in the 21st century,” said Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, in his speech at St Petersburg International Economic Forum. “The components of sovereignty are equally important, and they reinvigorate and complement each other.” In this context Vladimir Putin particularly stressed the importance of upholding political sovereignty and national identity, but also strengthening everything that “determines our country’s economic, financial, professional and technological independence.”
“Once again, the world is going through an era of drastic change. International institutions are breaking down and faltering. Security guarantees are being devalued. The West has made a point of refusing to honour its earlier commitments. It has simply been impossible to reach any new agreements with them,” said Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, in his speech at St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“In the past decades, new powerful and increasingly assertive centres have been formed. Each of them develops its own political system and public institutions according to its own model of economic growth and, naturally, has the right to protect them and to secure national sovereignty,” stressed Vladimir Putin.
He also noted that “there are tectonic shifts in geopolitics, the global economy and technology, in the entire system of international relations, where the role of dynamic and potentially strong countries and regions is substantially growing. It is no longer possible to ignore their interests.” According to the Russian President, “these changes are fundamental, groundbreaking and rigorous.”
In his speech, Vladimir Putin laid out five principles according to which Russia is going to build its model of economic development and sovereignty protection.
According to the Russian President, the first one is openness. “Genuinely sovereign states are always interested in equal partnership and in contributing to global development. Russia will never follow the road of self-isolation and autarky although our so-called Western friends are literally dreaming about this. Moreover, we are expanding cooperation with all those who are interested in it, who want to work with us, and will continue to do so,” said Vladimir Putin.
He stressed: “We believe the development of a convenient and independent payment infrastructure in national currencies is a solid and predictable basis for deepening international cooperation. To help companies from other countries develop logistical and cooperation ties, we are working to improve transport corridors, increase the capacity of railways, transshipment capacity at ports in the Arctic, and in the eastern, southern and other parts of the country, including in the Azov-Black Sea and Caspian basins – they will become the most important section of the North-South Corridor, which will provide stable connectivity with the Middle East and Southern Asia. We expect freight traffic along this route to begin growing steadily in the near future.” “But foreign trade is not our only priority. Russia intends to increase scientific, technological, cultural, humanitarian and sports cooperation based on equality and mutual respect between partners. At the same time, our country will strive for responsible leadership in all these areas.”
As the second principle of Russia’s long-term development, he named reliance on entrepreneurial freedom. “Every private initiative aimed at benefiting Russia should receive maximum support and space for implementation,” the President said.
Well-balanced macroeconomic policy is the third guiding principle of long-term development. “This policy has largely enabled us to withstand the unprecedented pressure brought on by sanctions. Let me reiterate that this is an essential policy in the long term, not just for responding to the current challenges,” stressed Vladimir Putin.
Social justice is the fourth principle. “There must be a powerful social dimension when it comes to promoting economic growth and business initiatives,” the President of the Russian Federation noted.
And another, the fifth, principle of Russia’s economic policy-making is proactive development of infrastructure.
“Changes in the global economy, finances and international relations are unfolding at an ever-growing pace and scale. There is an increasingly pronounced trend in favour of a multipolar growth model in lieu of globalization. Of course, building and shaping a new world order is no easy task. We will have to confront many challenges, risks, and factors that we can hardly predict or anticipate today,” the Russian President said.
“Still, it is obvious that it is up to the strong sovereign states, those that do not follow a trajectory imposed by others, to set the rules governing the new world order. Only powerful and sovereign states can have their say in this emerging world order. Otherwise, they are doomed to become or remain colonies devoid of any rights.”
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