Unfolding global economic crisis triggered by Western elites, says Putin

Moscow, Sep 7 Western nations are hurting everyone, including their own people, in an attempt to preserve global dominance that is slipping from their hands, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, a media report said.

The unfolding global economic crisis was triggered by "Western elites, who would not, or even cannot acknowledge objective facts" about global changes, Putin said during a speech at an economic event in Vladivostok on Wednesday, RT reported.

Leaders in the US and their allies are seeking to preserve "the world order that benefits only them, forcing everyone to live under the rules, which they invented and which they regularly break and constantly change depending on the situation," he added, RT reported.

Facing opposition from nations that don't want to bend to their will, the US and its allies "lash out" and take shortsighted decisions that hurt not only the dissenters, but also their own nations, Putin stated, noting a "growing detachment" of Western elites from the common people.

The Russian President cited surging inflation in the EU as the most telling example, noting that standards of living in the bloc were being sacrificed to American interests.

"The EU authorities are denying European businesses accessible raw materials, energy and markets" by the decision to decouple from Russia, Putin said.

Meanwhile, Russia, the target of Western sanctions and other forms of unfair competition, is doing relatively well, Putin said.

The country enjoys a relatively low level of inflation that is going down, record-low unemployment and other factors of macroeconomic stability, he said.

Sure, Russian businesses that depended on the EU were hurt, but overall, the country managed to deal with the Western "aggression", Putin said, RT reported.

The Russian President was speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. The annual event is aimed at fostering closer ties in the region.