World trade needs to restore trust between countries, and it is necessary to find a way out of the situation with trade wars and “fights without rules” in international affairs. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), TASS reported.
“In the world, real trade wars flare up, unfortunately, there are actually fighting without rules with intimidation and elimination of competitors by non-market methods. And now, more than ever, our collective efforts are needed to find a way out of this situation,” Putin said.
According to him, it is necessary to restore confidence to approve norms of equitable economic interaction, for a start, “at least to remove trade and sanctions from under restrictions in the social and humanitarian sphere, namely, essential goods, medicines, and medical equipment.”
“I think it’s hard to disagree,” said Putin.
He noted that this topic was discussed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), which took place on June 6-8.
Putin also touched on the development of interaction between Asian countries, noting that this region is now the engine of global growth.
“The Russian side, as the coordinator of the economic dimension of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, attaches particular importance to work in this direction,” said the President of the Russian Federation.
He recalled that on the Russian initiative in 2015, within the framework of this forum, a business council was created with the participation of businessmen from CICA member countries, and a memorandum on cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises was prepared for the current summit.
“We are in favor of building up mutual trade, rejecting protectionism, illegitimate sanctions, politically motivated restrictions, and barriers, are committed to comprehensively deepening investment cooperation, expanding production cooperation based on universal WTO rules, on the principles of equality, respect and consideration for each other’s interests,” said Putin.
The Russian leader also noted that the idea of matching integration processes developing in the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Chinese initiative “One Belt, One Way.”
“Of course, such an approach is in our common interest,” the Russian president concluded.