Putin Talks Up Economy, Hints at Using Nuclear Arms.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin used a widely watched economic forum to talk up Moscow's success in resisting the West's sanctions, while saying that Ukraine had become almost entirely dependent on Western military support.

He also again hinted at the potential for Russia to use its nuclear arsenal if its own security was threatened.

During his almost-90-minute address at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Russian leader painted a glowing picture of the Russian economy. Despite worsening labor shortages and other headwinds, Putin said Moscow had managed to evade much of the impact from the sanctions the U.S. and its allies imposed shortly after the February 2022 events, buoyed in part by rising energy prices. 

He made a point of offering more trading opportunities for countries across Asia and Africa.

"The second quarter of last year was the most difficult for our economy, for domestic business," Putin told a plenary session. "But we can confidently say the strategy chosen then worked."

The Russian leader said that in April the country's gross domestic product had grown 3.3% year-to-year and that by year-end the economy is projected to have expanded by a full percentage point from the year before.

"This will allow our country to maintain its place among the world's leading economies," Putin said, adding that Russia's "public finances are generally balanced" and that there is a small federal budget deficit associated with earlier spending.

He told the forum that Russia needed to increase military spending to ensure the country's security and later noted that the country had increased output of military products by 2.7 times over the past year.

Russia faces considerable economic problems. Many working-age men have fled the country, fearing they could be caught up in any fresh mobilization after some 300,000 reservists were called up last year. Russian businesses are struggling with a shortage of critical workers, including programmers, engineers, welders and drillers, suggesting that what the Kremlin calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine could cause long-term damage to the economy.

The government recently unveiled proposals to tax the hundreds of thousands of people who fled when the events started but kept their Russian jobs remotely from places such as Turkey, Armenia and Central Asia. Russian lawmakers have proposed laws to seize the property of those who have left the country.

Putin's remarks took place against a backdrop of fierce fighting in Ukraine, as Kyiv moves to push Russian troops, who occupy around a fifth of the country, back to the east.

The Russian leader defended last year's action, saying it was necessary to protect Russian sovereignty, repeating his frequent allegation that the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are trying to undermine Moscow by supporting and arming Ukraine. He attempted to invoke the Soviet Union's resistance against Nazi Germany in World War II. The West, he said, is "making every effort to ensure that Russia suffers, as they say, strategic defeat on the battlefield."

Putin also repeated his claims that the government in Kyiv is run by Western-backed Nazis and nationalists who threaten Russia's own national identity. He criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, "as a disgrace to the Jewish people."

The Russian leader later warned the West that while Russia has no intention at this time to use nuclear weapons, "the use of nuclear weapons is theoretically possible . . . if there is a threat to the existence of the Russian state."

Putin has frequently talked about using nuclear weapons since the invasion, and he reminded the audience that Moscow has started stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, just north of Kyiv.

"We've seen the comments that were made in the last few hours," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Washington. "We'll continue to monitor the situation very closely and very carefully. We have no reason to adjust our own nuclear posture. We don't see any indications that Russia is preparing the use of nuclear weapons. The president said again this week that we remain committed to the defense of NATO, every inch of its territory."

Earlier in the day, the Kremlin said the Russian leader was open to any contacts to discuss ways to end the crisis in Ukraine, Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

On Saturday, Putin is expected to host a delegation of African leaders who have said they want to present a peace initiative to the Russian leader. On Friday, the delegation led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met Zelensky in Kyiv.

Many African nations have been affected by the disruption caused by the war, particularly to grain shipments, and have refrained from directly condemning Russia's action. Putin has attempted to expand trade and commercial ties to both Africa and Russia's neighbors in Asia.

"We will pay special attention to the North-South corridor," he said.

He said Russia intends to expand trade with countries that "don't succumb to boorish external pressure," in another dig at the West.

"Russia," Putin said, "has and always will be involved in the world economy."" [1]

1. World News: Putin Talks Up Economy, Hints at Using Nuclear Arms. Simmons, Ann M. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 17 June 2023: A.9.