ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has slammed the West’s recent buzzword labeling their soaring inflation as the "Putin price hike" as absurdity, saying that Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine has nothing to do with the inflation pressure in Western countries.
"I have been hearing about the so-called ‘Putin price hike’ in the West. Each time I come across it I wonder who this absurdity is meant for? Those who cannot read and write? People who can read understand what is really happening: Russia and our operation to liberate Donbass have nothing to do with that. Skyrocketing prices, inflation, food problems, fuel, gasoline prices, the situation in the energy sector in general are the result of systemic mistakes in the economic policies of the current US administration and European bureaucracy," he said on Friday at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.
He admitted however that the special operation in Ukraine "did have certain impact." "But the problem is rooted in their erroneous economic policy. The launch of our operation in Donbass is a lifesaver, which makes it possible for them to shift the blame for their own mistakes on others, on Russia in this case. But anyone who has at least elementary education sees the real causes of the current situation. Too much money is coined," he noted.
In the context of the global inflation pressure, the president pointed to the years-long irresponsible policy of the Group of Seven nations, including uncontrolled emission and accumulation of unsecured debts. "The dramatic inflation growth on the commodity and mineral markets happened long before this year’s development. <…> Failing to invent or unwilling to use other solutions, the governments of the leading economies have simply switched on the printing press to cover unprecedented budgetary deficits this unsophisticated way," Putin said.
According to Putin, the money stock in the United States has increased by 38% in the past two years, and by 20%, or by 2.5 trillion euro, in the European Union.
He blamed this situation on the irresponsible macroeconomic policy of the Group of Seven countries. "These processes only accelerated and invigorated during the coronavirus pandemic as far back as 2020. Both supply and demand for goods and services dramatically shrank back then. The question is: what our military operation in Donbass had to do with that? Nothing," he added.