Putin warns the West he will inflict damage if Russia is pushed out of the world’s economy.

Prresident Vladimir Putin says his country;s’s very existence would have been in danger had he not acted as he did over Ukraine.

“The security risks that had been created were so high that it was impossible to respond by other means.,” he told a group of industrailaists and entepeneurs at the Kremlin.

He added: “This was a forced measure because risks could have created for us to the extent that it would have been impossible to conceive how our country could even exist in the future.”

He did not elaborate as to how he perceived the county would have ceased to exist.

But he blamed Western governments’ intransigence for the measures he took. “All attempts had come to nothing. Frankly speaking, I am even surprised – there was not one iota of progress on any issue.”

He said it was “extremely important” for Russian businesses and their counterparts to understand the need for Russia to remain linked in to the international system.

“Russia remains part of the world economy, and to the extent that it remains part, we are not going to inflict damage on the system we feel ourselves to be a part of.

“We are not going to damage the system of the global economy that we are in, to the extent that we are in it. So, I think our partners should understand this and should not try to force us from this system.”

He did not specify the damage Russia could inflict if it was being puished out of the world economy.

Here is the full text of his remarks:

First, this is the main point, so that this is clear. What is happening is a forced measure. There were simply no chances left for taking a different course of action. The security risks that had been created were so high that it was impossible to respond by other means. All attempts had come to nothing. Frankly speaking, I am even surprised – there was not one iota of progress on any issue. I would like to emphasise again that this was a forced measure because risks could have created for us to the extent that it would have been impossible to conceive how our country could even exist in the future. This is the first point.

Second, all of us, including you, understand the kind of world we live in, and we have been getting ready in certain ways for the restrictions and sanctions that are being imposed on us now. Nonetheless, what I am about to say is something that I consider extremely important. I would like to respond to what President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin said.

Russia remains part of the world economy, and to the extent that it remains part, we are not going to inflict damage on the system we feel ourselves to be a part of. We are not going to damage the system of the global economy that we are in, to the extent that we are in it. So, I think our partners should understand this and should not try to force us from this system. Nonetheless, restrictions will be imposed, even for political considerations.

In this context, I would like to appeal to you to be understanding of what is going on and cooperate with the Government to find ways to support production, the economy and jobs, though bearing in mind how things are shaping up.

I believe the goal of the Government and the authorities in general in the broadest sense of this word is, of course, to provide you with good conditions and ensure more freedom. There may be only one response – to ensure greater freedom of entrepreneurship, naturally, within a certain framework so that, as our colleagues put it, there is a certain amount of predictability from the Government but we expect predictability from businesses as well.

Obviously, we cannot predict all geopolitical risks but in relations between businesses and the Government, you certainly have the right to expect clear and consistent predictability from the Government. And, the most important point, it is necessary to be in touch at all times, to respond in a nuanced way to everything that is happening and to adjust our joint work whenever necessary.

I would like to thank you for what has been done up to now, even in these rather complicated conditions, and I hope that in the new conditions – although we cannot call them entirely new – but anyway at this stage we will work with the same solidarity and no less effectively.

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