Putin says Ukraine crisis not of Russia’s making

St Petersburg, June 19: 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 plery session of the St Petersburg Intertiol 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 jourlist, Putin said Russia was not “the origil 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. (IANS)

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