Putin says Ukraine crisis not of Russia's making

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the crisis in Ukraine is not of its making, but it has been able to overcome the economic fallout which emerged from it.

Addressing the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, he said the Russian GDP has declined by 2.2 percent in the last one year and its manufacturing come down by 1.5 percent.

"But the world was predicting that Russia would go into a deep crisis. That has not happened," he said.

He said his country has been able to stabilise the economy and has achieved a trade surplus. The volume of exports has grown 17 percent and inflation has been kept within limits. The currency too has been stabilised without putting any curbs on flow of money.

Later, answering wide-ranging questions by Charlie Rose, an American TV journalist, Putin said Russia was not "the original cause of the crisis in Ukraine", and added that civil war there was the result of confrontation triggered by support from the United States and Europe.

He said the only way out now was to strictly follow the Minsk Agreement between Russia and Ukraine. The agreement provides for cessation of hostilities between Ukraine and the separatists regions, which observers say are supported by Russia, both in terms of resources and arms.

Putin said putting pressure on the three regions in conflict will not solve the problem. The Western powers must also put pressure on Kiev to work with everyone in the region.

He did not comment directly on whether Russia was arming the separatists, but said that people in any conflict area can always find arms. These would not have flowed into the region had Kiev been willing to seek a political situation, and not "allowed a coup d'etat" of the previous government.

The earlier government, which was supported by Russia, fell when widespread protests broke across Ukraine and its president was forced to flee to Moscow.

When asked if the relationship with the West was heading towards a cold war over Ukraine, Putin said a cold war was not created by local factors but by global events, like the one where the US walked out of the anti-ballastic missile treaty.

He said the situation in Ukraine can be solved if there was political goodwill on the part of the US and Kiev. "But if someone thinks that they can talk in terms of force or use of armed forces, this will not work."

He said his differences with the US arose from that country's affinity to "interfere in our internal affairs", and to have a mentality like "if you are not with us, you are against us". He said he cannot accept "language of ultimatum".

Putin also spoke about the special relationship that his country was developing with China which had "reached unprecedented level in its history".

He said they had set aside and solved the issues of border with China and gone ahead with economic cooperation. The Shanghai agreement between the two countries could also be framework for relationships which even Pakistan and India could follow, he said.

He said China was not only its largest trade partner, but they have been able to come together on several areas because of common interests.

Several countries, including China, Greece, Bahrain were given a pride of place at the podium with Putin and their representatives were encouraged to ask questions.

(Hardev Sanotra is in Russia at the invitation of St Petersburg International Econmic Forum. He can be contacted at hardev.sanotra@ians.in)