Putin slams Western sanctions as damaging to the global economy

Putin rejects Zelenskyy’s offer to meet, saying he sees ‘no point’ in it 1 of 5 | Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev addresses a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) 2 of 5 | In this photo released by the Roscongress Foundation, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan arrive to attend a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Vyacheslav Viktorov/Roscongress Foundation via AP) 3 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he arrives to attend a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) 4 of 5 | In this photo released by the Roscongress Foundation, Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Kirill Kazachkov/Roscongress Foundation via AP) 5 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) 1 of 5 | Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev addresses a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) 1 of 5 Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev addresses a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 5 | In this photo released by the Roscongress Foundation, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan arrive to attend a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Vyacheslav Viktorov/Roscongress Foundation via AP) 2 of 5 In this photo released by the Roscongress Foundation, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan arrive to attend a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Vyacheslav Viktorov/Roscongress Foundation via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he arrives to attend a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) 3 of 5 Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he arrives to attend a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 5 | In this photo released by the Roscongress Foundation, Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Kirill Kazachkov/Roscongress Foundation via AP) 4 of 5 In this photo released by the Roscongress Foundation, Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Kirill Kazachkov/Roscongress Foundation via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 5 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) 5 of 5 Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday rejected a proposal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a face-to-face negotiation on the conflict, saying he sees “no point” in it.Thursday’s letter, the first public message Zelenskyy has written directly to Putin since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, was a sweeping critique of the Russian leader’s 26 years in power. Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin described Zelenskyy’s open letter proposing the meeting as “boorish,” particularly after a May 22 drone attack on a college dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region that Moscow said killed 21 and wounded scores of others.“Is it a way to create conditions for personal meetings and talks, or create an environment which makes any personal meetings impossible?” Putin said. “I think it’s the second.” He said that he sees “no point” in the meeting.Zelenskyy acknowledged shifting U.S. priorities, saying it would be wrong to simply wait for the Trump administration to return its attention to ending the fighting in Ukraine while it remains heavily focused on the Iran war. 3 MIN READ 2 MIN READ In Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump had said it “would be great” if Putin and Zelenskyy meet.Putin has previously offered for Zelenskyy to come to Moscow for talks, an offer that the Ukrainian leader pointedly rejected. Putin said last month he doesn’t exclude a meeting in a third country, but only when there is a deal to sign. On Thursday, Putin again rejected Zelenskyy’s push for an immediate ceasefire, arguing that Moscow wants a comprehensive settlement, not a temporary truce.Putin said Russia is open for a compromise on Ukraine in line with understandings reached at his last year’s summit with Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, adding that Ukraine needs to accept them to make a deal to end the conflict, now in its fifth year. “Naturally, the Ukrainian side would like us to suspend the advances made by Russian troops,” he said. “But it would be better to end the war by agreeing to the compromises that were discussed in Anchorage.”In a speech earlier Friday at the forum, Putin said developing countries have gained an increasingly important role in the global economy, while the share of output by Western countries has shrunk.He accused the West of undermining the global economy and finances with unilateral sanctions. By freezing Russian assets abroad through sanctions, Western nations eroded trust in their own currencies, he said. “The sanctions and blocking of Russia’s sovereign reserves have irreversibly impacted the standing of international currencies, the dollar and the euro,” he said. “Just like Russia, any other country could lose access to their legitimate assets in dollars or euros, as well as Western financial and payment systems.”He alleged that high state debt had helped undermine global trust in Western institutions.“The roots of the current global turbulence lie in the transition from a vertical, hierarchical model, which served the interests of a small number of states, to a more complex, distributed and multipolar one,” Putin said. “Russia views global changes not only as a threat but also as immense opportunities. And to capitalize on them, we aim to act swiftly and pragmatically.” The Russian leader said the world needed a “modern, flexible and responsible financial architecture — free from risks, bans and barriers.”Putin played down Russia’s economic slowdown and sought to emphasize its macroeconomic stability. He noted that Russia’s state debt is a fraction of that in Western countries and its budget deficit is considerably smaller, compared with the West.The forum comes at a time when Russia’s economic outlook has clouded amid the conflict in Ukraine. The government raised taxes and increased domestic borrowing to keep its budget deficit under control.On Thursday, Putin told heads of international media at a question-and-answer session that it was an exaggeration to say Russia’s economy was struggling. He noted that his government had taken deliberate steps to cool the economy to keep inflation under control. Putin has used the St. Petersburg forum, likened to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to showcase his country’s economic advances and encourage foreign investment. While Western officials and business leaders have stayed away after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, Russia has sought guests from elsewhere to underline its declared goal of promoting a “multipolar world.”Saudi Arabia sent a large delegation this year, and the presidents of Uzbekistan and Tanzania and vice president of China also gave speeches Friday. A U.S. official, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., head of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, is attending for the first time in years. Putin on Thursday acknowledged damaging Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia and pledged to bolster its defenses.“To our regret, some of them break through,” Putin told the media session in talking about the drone strikes. “Russia has an air defense system, we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.”Hours before the forum opened on Wednesday, a Ukrainian drone attack set ablaze an oil terminal in the city and also hit a nearby naval base.