No types of monopoly or domination are eternal, and Russia is ready to compete with the West, President Vladimir Putin told an audience in Moscow on Thursday.
Russian companies are ready to compete, they only need help with promoting their businesses, Putin told the ‘Strong Ideas for a New Time’ forum, organized by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI).
“Our companies and teams are ready for competition and many of them have already proven this. Talking about monopoly, I meant the Western competitors, of course, which had secured a monopoly in many sectors of the Russian market,” the president explained.
According to Putin, Russian companies can establish their presence in the global market step by step, starting with the markets of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and BRICS nations.
The world has not collapsed because of the sanctions, according to the president. The restrictions imposed on Moscow by the West have opened up new areas of development for Russian companies, he added.
Russian entrepreneurs filed more than 43,000 trademark registration applications in the first five months of this year, Putin noted, praising domestic businesses.
“I can see that some really interesting new things have emerged. It’s a treat to watch, and hopefully not just to watch but also to wear and use.”
Putin called for the creation of an economy that produces its own modern goods, services, and technology instead of consuming foreign, imported products.
He stressed the importance of helping domestic producers to promote their products, so that Russia will have brands that are well known both within the country and globally.
Putin blasted companies that left Russia as a result of Ukraine-related sanctions. He accused some foreign brands of “turning the exit from the Russian market into a PR campaign,” and expressed doubt that these PR strategies will be of any benefit to them.
The ‘Strong Ideas for New Times’ forum is a two-day event taking place at the World Trade Center in Moscow. It aims to identify and support initiatives and projects that will make a meaningful contribution to strengthening Russia’s sovereignty and achieving national goals by 2030.
Nicaragua Interested in Joining BRICS to Promote Multipolar World, Unity - Top Diplomat
Lenka White - Nicaragua is interested in joining BRICS because the bloc promotes a multipolar order and a stronger unity among developing nations, Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada told Sputnik.
"Nicaragua has already expressed its interest in joining BRICS. It’s logical because it's a new way, new world, where developing countries can have better unity and have better development, a better world, a multipolar world," Denis Moncada said.
Managua and Moscow are having conversations with respect to conducting trade in national currencies, including when paying for Russian wheat, Denis Moncada told.
"It's a topic [switching to national currencies] of conversations that is universal among friends that are fighting against US hegemony. These are necessary discussions. This mess started conversations that we're sustaining among our representatives and our banking representatives," Moncada said.
The foreign minister also said Nicaragua would like to pay for Russian wheat in either rubles or cordoba.
In April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Nicaragua as part of his Latin American tour.
Managua considers the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipeline an act of state terrorism by the West, Moncada said.
"This is a very clear instance of a terrorist act by countries that are enemies of the Russian Federation," Moncada said. "The government of Nicaragua clearly opposes these western attempts to practice state terrorism. And we really believe in the sovereignty of countries."
"It's very clear, which countries execute these acts - the NATO, the USA, their allies - against the countries that are trying to defend their security and severity," Moncada said.
Denmark, Germany and Norway have left Russia out of their investigations into the attack, prompting Moscow to launch its own investigation of charges of international terrorism.
"The UN is an organization that has the goals to contribute to peace, security and stability in the world, and achieve a better world. Obviously, a lot of powers try to instrumentalize it in their favor," Moncada said. "But the peoples are fighting through international law, through the Charter of United Nations to have a full participation in a full UN in a positive way within the Charter or the United Nations trying to modify, refound it, so that we have a UN, that works."
The foreign minister also called on other countries to come together to defend against these measures.
When asked about the plans for the upcoming UN General Assembly high-level week, Moncada pointed out that Nicaragua tries to bring policy, improve solidarity, defend the international law and the UN Charter as well as solidarity with all the countries impacted by unilateral measures, including by the United States and other nations.
Lavrov, G20 Ambassadors Discuss Western Pressure on Countries Regarding Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed with the ambassadors of some G20 countries on Wednesday the West's attempts to put pressure on developing states on the issue of Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said the meeting was attended by some G20 ambassadors from: Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, China, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and South Africa.
"The minister shared his assessments of Western states' pressure on developing countries in an attempt to draw them into certain formats in line with their interests, into adventurous plans for a peaceful settlement according to Western patterns, increasing the supply of weapons to the Kiev regime, protracting the armed confrontation in Ukraine and isolating Russia," it said.
The sides also discussed urgent issues of preparation for and agenda of the G20 summit in New Delhi on September 9-10.
