Cooperating with Asia-Pacific states, Russia is not scaling down ties with traditional Western partners - Putin

ST. PETERSBURG, June 19. /TASS/. Russia’s active cooperation with the Asia-Pacific countries does not mean that it is scaling down interaction with its traditional Western partners, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday at a plenary meeting of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). "I’d like to emphasise that active interaction with the new global growth centres does not at all mean that we pay less attention to the dialogue with our traditional Western partners," Putin said. According to the president, such cooperation will be continued. "Russia is open to the world, to economic, scientific, humanitarian interaction, contacts with representatives of the civil society and business community from all over the world. I’m sure that such policy course, such dialogue meet the common interests, helping us to preserve the trust which serves as a basis for joint work," the president said. Read more