Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Russia’s billionaires to fight back in the face of what he called a Western “sanctions war” during an annual meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
CNN reported that Putin attributed Russia’s recent drop in GDP to increasing sanctions over its years-long war against neighboring Ukraine, telling Russia’s business elite that “these problems… were not caused by us.”
“It was 4.7% (GDP decline) for well-known reasons, as you know – the sanctions war, the unprecedented challenges in the world economy and in the system of international relations,” Putin said, per CNN.
A number of Russian businessmen, oligarchs, officials and financial institutions have been hit by US and other Western sanctions since the beginning of the war.
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The Russian President urged the audience, which included a number of prominent billionaire oligarchs, to invest in their homeland to boost the country’s economy.
“A responsible businessman is a true citizen of Russia, of his country, a citizen who understands his interests and acts on their behalf,” Putin said, as reported by Portal. “He does not hide assets abroad, but registers companies here, in our country, and does not become dependent on foreign authorities.”
Both media outlets noted that it is Putin’s first face-to-face meeting with top business leaders since Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
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