SOCHI, October 18. /TASS/. The ongoing trade war between the United States and China will adversely affect the whole world, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at a plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club.
"You mentioned trade wars and sanctions: in my opinion, <…> certain discourse in the United States is related to the domestic political situation. Secondly, what is the domestic political schedule? Interim elections are held now, followed by presidential elections; certain trends in the economy should be maintained," Putin said. "Such actions can generate a certain positive effect in midterm but from my point of view, adverse consequences will inevitably take place in the longer run," he added.
All the current developments affect the global economy and cannot but influence on its individual segments in terms of countries, the Russian leader said. "The cost of the exchange of blows between the US and China is about $500 mln now," Putin said. "If they continue, it will be $1-1.5 trillion already," he noted. This is already "a significant value" equal to 0.4% of the world economy, the President said. "This will be one of causes of further decline in the global economy. This will affect everyone and nobody is interested in that," he added.
The Chinese civilization is an age-old one and the Chinese have a lot of patience, Putin said. "I believe fundamentals of the current Chinese economy make it possible to withstand everything, while the Chinese economy has already become bigger than the US one by volume," he added.