The US has tried to use globalization as an instrument to secure its dominance in the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin told VTB Bank’s ‘Russia Calling’ Forum on Thursday. Washington has not hesitated to take advantage of other nations, including its own allies, to achieve this goal, he said, adding that the world now has a chance to build a new, “truly democratic” global economy.
Globalization was supposed to benefit all members of the international community and give every nation an equal opportunity to thrive, but “nothing like this happened in practice,” Putin said.
The US had its own vision of the globalized world in which it would be positioned at the top, he told the forum. The West sought to artificially contain the economic growth of nations it considers to be on the “global periphery” and treats them like colonies, he said.
“In fact, the US… exploited its allies just like any other actor of the global economy,” the president said.
Now, however, the old model is being replaced with a multipolar word, Putin stated, calling this process “dramatic and irreversible.” Amid the changes, Russia seeks to establish a new, “truly democratic” global economic model based on fair competition between all actors, he said.
The barrage of sanctions unleashed by Washington and its allies against Russia due to its military operation in Ukraine prompted a shift towards the use of national currencies by many nations in trade instead of the US dollar.
In late November, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said many countries, not just Moscow, were reducing their dependence on Western currencies by switching to alternatives for foreign trade settlements.
The “unfair” and “unbalanced” model of globalization has become outdated, Lavrov said at the time, adding that more nations were working on creating new transport corridors and supply chains. He also accused Washington of turning the dollar into a weapon in global trade wars and destroying free global competition by blocking the work of the World Trade Organization.