MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. The well-being of Western countries rests on the so-called dependent development, where funds and resources are siphoned off from countries in the global South, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev stated in his article for Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily.

Medvedev recalled that the second half of the 20th century’s economy scientists had already proved that "the existence of a direct correlation between the backwardness of the third world and the development of the global capitalist economic system" and that the exploitation of non-Western countries "is a formidable obstacle to human progress."

In particular, he continued, between 1968 and 2018, some $62 trillion worth of raw materials alone were exported from the South.

Medvedev cited the example of modern France, which keeps the currencies of Francophone Africa dependent on Paris, turning African countries into its debtors.

"One cannot speak about the real freedom of a country if it is not economically independent and is doomed to make decisions based on the opinion of its creditors," he added.