Speaking in an interview with German ARD television broadcast Saturday as he was attending the Group of 20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, Putin said that cutting Russian access to capital markets would hurt Western exports.
Putin cited Russia’s state-controlled Gazprombank, which he said issued loans worth $3.2 billion to Ukraine before being hurt by Western sanctions that barred it from borrowing in capital markets.
Putin acknowledged that the sanctions have hurt the Russian economy, but sought to put a brave face to that, saying that the Western punishment would encourage Russia to ease its dependence on oil and gas exports. …read more
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
