ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Friday rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s proposal to have a meeting.Speaking at the international economic forum in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Putin described Zelenskyy’s open letter proposing the meeting as “boorish.”“Is it a way to create conditions for personal meetings and talks, or create an environment which makes any personal meetings impossible?” he said. “I think it’s the second.”He said that he sees “no point” in the meeting.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that developing countries have gained an increasingly important role in the global economy, while the share of output by Western countries has shrunk.In a speech to the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin accused the West of undermining the global economy and finances with unilateral sanctions.
By freezing Russian assets abroad through sanctions, Western nations eroded trust in their own currencies, he said. “The sanctions and blocking of Russia’s sovereign reserves have irreversibly impacted the standing of international currencies, the dollar and the euro,” he said. “Just like Russia, any other country could lose access to their legitimate assets in dollars or euros, as well as Western financial and payment systems.”
