Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at the Eastern Economic Forum early this morning and accused the West of playing games of deception with sanctions that harm not only themselves but also the poorest nations. He warned that food problems will only exacerbate and “turn into a never-before-seen humanitarian catastrophe.”
The West said that it needed to allow civilian ships into the Ukrainian Black Sea to deliver grain cargo. Putin says that most of that grain went to the wealthiest European nations with only 3 percent dedicated to hunger relief missions. That amounts to two out of 87 ships.
Putin pointed out that the slumping Dollar, Euro and British pound are evidence that these currencies are “untrustworthy” and said that Russia will move “away from the use of these unreliable, compromised currencies.” He said that U.S. allies know this and are stealthily doing the same thing. He said, “even US allies are gradually reducing their savings and payments in dollars, according to statistics… I will note that yesterday Gazprom and its Chinese partners agreed to pay for gas in rubles and yuan in a 50/50 split.”
The Eastern Economic Forum is a consortium of Russian and Asian nations with additional participants from Uzbekistan, Armenia, India, Mongolia, Myanmar and more.