ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/. The United States is a great power with a great future, but the internal problems and mistakes by its elites make themselves felt, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary meeting of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

He said "the political elite in the United States looks arrogantly at everyone around" and often has an inflated opinion of itself.

"But this does not reduce to anything the hard fact that the United States is a great power. It is a country that has become a world leader in just over 300 years. This deserves respect," Putin said.

"Without any doubts, that country has a great future, I have no doubt about it. But the internal problems and mistakes of the ruling elites certainly make themselves felt," Putin added, noting that this was happening "precisely because the internal problems are snowballing."

"They are snowballing in the economy. This can be seen in the inflation rates. And they are growing in other economic spheres," he concluded.