Putin at SPIEF: Russia Open to Equal Cooperation and Wants No Unnecessary Intermediaries

BRICS gaining weight, direct supplies without intermediaries, settlements in national currencies and new logistics routes

As reported by CCTV+, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia remains open to all who are interested in engaging with the country and is ready for equal and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Speaking at a plenary session of the 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said that Russia is convinced that an approach where partners hear each other, understand each other’s interests and find common solutions represents a harmonious path of development and allows the world to respond to the serious challenges it faces.

Russia remains open to all who are interested in engaging with our country and is ready for equal and mutually beneficial cooperation, Putin stressed.

He noted that the world can become fairer only when economic growth is distributed more widely and opportunities become available to billions of people who have long remained on the periphery of the global economy. It is crucial that new centres of economic growth strive to shape their own development paths, increase their share in value creation and build their own brands, standards and opportunities.

Putin said the global trading system is becoming less Western centric, citing the growing role of BRICS countries in world trade. International trade is becoming more efficient thanks to expanded direct supplies without unnecessary intermediaries, the development of settlements in national currencies and the opening of new logistics routes.

Held annually since 1997, SPIEF has become one of Russia’s most important international economic forums. This year, the event brought together about 20,000 representatives of political, business and academic circles from more than 100 countries and territories.

SPIEF (St. Petersburg International Economic Forum) is an annual business event where key economic issues of Russia and the world are discussed. The world is changing. Centres of economic power are shifting. At this forum, Russia is not talking about bloc confrontation, but about pragmatism: direct supplies, national currencies, new routes. No intermediaries. No imposition.

BRICS is gaining weight — not at the expense of others’ decline, but through its own growth. The question is not whether Russia is isolated. No. The question is with whom and on what terms it will build the new economy. SPIEF showed: the bet is on equality. And on those ready for dialogue without diktat.