MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would expand trade cooperation with new partners, including by switching gas flows to eastern neighbours, in order to combat Western sanctions.
Putin said in a televised speech that Russia would develop its economic relations with partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America to thwart Western efforts to isolate it economically.
“We will remove restrictions in logistics and finance. Let me remind you that by introducing sanctions, Western countries were trying to push Russia to the periphery of world development. But we will never take the route of self-isolation,” he said.
“On the contrary, we are broadening, and will broaden, cooperation with all who have an interest in that.” Russia’s energy sales to Europe have sharply fallen since the start of its war in Ukraine. Putin said it would increase gas sales to the east and reiterated his plan to build a new “gas hub” in Turkey.
He said it would define prices for gas sales to Europe using an “electronic platform”. Russia’s economy is expected to shrink by 2.5% in 2022, Putin said.
Besides, Russian Oil revenues fell last month despite a boost in production to just below levels before the invasion of Ukraine, the International Energy Agency has said, in a sign that western efforts to choke off the Kremlin’s income are working.
The IEA estimated that Russia earned about $15.8bn (£12.8bn) from oil sales in November, the second lowest this year after $14.7bn in September. The revenue fall came despite a rise in Russia’s exports of crude oil and products to 8.1m barrels a day, the highest level since April, two months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
It is a positive signal for western countries hoping to curb the Kremlin’s funding from energy exports, which represent Russia’s largest source of revenues. The EU and G7 introduced a $60-a-barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil on 5 December as governments sought to strike a balance between cutting the Kremlin’s revenues and keeping control of fuel price inflation. The price of non-Russian oil was about $81 a barrel on Wednesday.