MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. The countries of the Eurasian Economic Union have already received about $24 billion in investments as a result of joint work within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, Russian President Vladimir Putin told China Media Group in an interview published on the Kremlin website.
"Look, our countries, the Eurasian Economic Union, have received $24 billion in investments as a result of our cooperation [within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative]. <…> At the same time, each country chooses for itself, within the framework of bilateral or multilateral formats, what is favourable or unfavourable for it, no one imposes anything. But it stimulates and creates conditions for development," the president said.
According to the Russian president, the joint projects "are also beneficial to the People’s Republic of China, because it also receives products from the implementation of these projects and gets conditions for better and greater development." "All this is done on the basis of mutual benefit," the Russian president pointed out.
Putin noted that the same can be said about the development of logistics and infrastructure facilities. "The same applies to the development of logistics and infrastructure facilities. We have recently built two bridges over the Amur River with China. I think this is good for people - it increases the number of them communicating with each other, and it is good for business because it allows us to increase trade," he said.
Balanced development
When asked about the importance of cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative for the whole world, Putin recalled the 17 sustainable development goals defined by the United Nations. He noted that the fight for the environment, the fight against climate change "both are very important areas, but they are not the only ones."
"One should not forget, for example, the fight against poverty. How can you say to people in African countries: you will get no oil, you will get no petroleum products, you will have to rely on renewable energy sources exclusively - on wind and solar energy, for example, and so on. Those are largely out of reach for developing countries. So, people are going to starve or what? So there should be a balance; all decisions should be balanced," the Russian president said.