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Putin calls for G20 to take lead in global affairs, makes more concessions to protestors

Posted by Editor on Thursday, 21 June 2012 14:55 | Published in Politics
Putin calls for G20 to take lead in global affairs, makes more concessions to protestors

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has just finished speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. It was an aggressive speech on international issues, while offering concessions on the domestic front, andnalso repeated the call for transforming Russian economy and moving it up the World Bank's "Doing Business" ranking to become one of the "best"places to do business in the world.

He kicked off by reiterating a dig at the traditional world leaders and called for the G20 to take the lead in global affairs.

Putin has made steady progress away from wanting to cooperate with the West: he was the first leader to reach out to then-president George W. Bush in 2003 after the 9/11 attack and was genuinely interested in becoming a partner. However, he was rebuffed at every turn and relations got steadily worse. A speech in Munich in 2007, where he warned the West that Russia was losing its patience, could be taken as the start of a process that culminated today with a speech openly calling for the G8 to step aside and for the G20, which includes the traditional leaders but also the rising ones in the BRICS and their peers, to become the top international body.

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Putin calls for G20 to take lead in global affairs, makes more concessions to protestors
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