Russian President Vladimir Putin joked on Monday that he will have a serious talk with the West over claims he is to blame for all the economic chaos wreaked by the conflict in Ukraine and the crippling sanctions imposed by the West on his country.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine killed thousands and displaced 14 million people, while the West's attempt to isolate Russia as punishment and Moscow's blockade of grain shipments from Ukrainian Black Sea ports drove up prices for oil and natural gas. , grains, cooking oil and fertilizers.
In a televised meeting at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin told Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko that Russia's economy was doing well despite Western sanctions.
Lukashenko said the sanctions gave both countries the impetus to focus on self-development and that Western elites were deluded about the causes of their economic problems.
“In economics, thanks are really to them (in the West), as they have given us a great boost for our own development,” Lukashenko told Putin, who smiled and nodded.
“What's happening there is that they've really underestimated it by reading their own media. They have inflation, but the truth is, 'Putin is to blame,' 'Putin is to blame for everything,'" Lukashenko said.
Putin pursed his lips and nodded.
"We will have a serious talk with them," Putin said with a forced smile.
Lukashenko laughed and said “Yes”.
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