ST. PETERSBURG, June 5. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday expressed hope that challenges created by the novel coronavirus pandemic would spur countries to remove politically motivated restrictions against each other.

"I wish with all my heart that the trials we faced last year would inspire us to work closer with each other, to finally get rid of politically motivated restrictions, especially when we need to join forces for the benefit of the people, in order to save their lives and health," the Russian leader told heads of world news agencies at a meeting organized by TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Putin went on to say that different countries have different prospects of restoring their economies after the crisis caused by the pandemic.

"For example, the US economy, according to experts, will rebound this year. Economies of other developed countries are likely to return to pre-crisis levels next [year], except for China, which has already reached its pre-crisis levels," Putin said. "As far as developing economies are concerned, this would happen <…> in the end of the next year, or one year later. Those are preliminary expert evaluations."

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will be held on June 2-5 in a face-to-face format with all anti-coronavirus measures observed. This year, the event is dedicated to collectively addressing the new economic reality the world is facing following COVID-19. TASS is the official photo hosting agency and information partner of the event.