NOVO-OGARYOVO, September 11. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin invited the government to consider the possibility of restricting supplies of some strategic raw materials, such as uranium, titanium or nickel, to foreign markets, but not to the country’s own detriment.
"They are restricting supplies of a number of goods to us. Well, maybe we should also impose certain restrictions [for them]?" Putin said at a meeting with the government.
He noted that this concerns certain types of goods that Russia supplies to the world market in large quantities.
"Uranium, titanium, nickel. Just let’s not do anything to our own detriment," he said.
Putin reiterated that the government should "think about certain restrictions on supplies to the foreign market" of these and a number of other goods.
The head of state recalled that Russia is among global leaders in terms of reserves of strategic raw materials: it accounts for almost 22% of natural gas, almost 23% of gold, and about 55% of diamonds.
"In some countries, strategic reserves are being created, and some other measures are being taken. In general, if this does not harm us, then we could think (I am not saying that this needs to be done tomorrow, but we should think) about certain restrictions on supplies to the external market not only of the goods that I named, but also of some others," he told the government. Putin said he would not speak in detail about the reasons for this decision.
"I think that my colleagues in the government understand perfectly well the importance of these types of Russian raw materials that I named. This is just what came to mind: uranium, titanium, nickel. But there are also others [important types of raw materials]," he said.