RT reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, discussed plans to seize ‘naughty’ Western companies.
Putin is hitting back in retaliation after Western governments have frozen some $300 billion in Russian central bank assets since the Ukraine war began. The Russian president told an audience at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday that it was theft and reveals a “medieval” mindset on the part of the Western allies.
“Many businessmen were stunned to see that their accounts in the West were frozen. It never crossed anyone’s mind. This is simply robbery! They closed it, took it away and won’t even explain why. It’s shocking. It’s like the Middle Ages,” Putin stated, according to a translation in RT.
He also underscored the growing risks for Russians who held their assets abroad, “Our people have a good saying: ‘Where you were born is where you should conduct your business’,” he said.
But Moscow is doing more than just issuing threats and condemnations, as last week the Kremlin took definitive legal action against Western companies still doing business in Russia, in retaliation for US and European sanctions.
During the two-day China–Central Asia summit in the historic city of Xi’an, Chinese President Xi Jinping called out the U.S. for instigating color revolutions.