The sanctions are harmful to all parties and everyone, including Russia, is interested in lifting them, said Russian President Vladimir Putin after talks with Austrian President Alexander van der Belen.
According to the Russian president, "sanctions and any restrictions that are politically motivated, protectionism are unilateral things, they are ways of resolving political issues, which do not serve to achieve the final result, they harm everyone, and those who adopt them and those to which they turn ". The Russian president assured his Austrian counterpart that "Russia has overcome all the difficulties related to sanctions."
The Russian president admitted that there were difficulties. "For us a few years ago it was not easy, as we were faced with a significant drop in prices for the items we traditionally export," but "nevertheless we not only managed to maintain macroeconomic stability but also to strengthen it."
He noted that Russia has managed to achieve the lowest level of inflation in the modern history of Russia, reaching 2,5%, the unemployment rate fell below 5%, while at the same time foreign exchange reserves are rising, there is a positive trade balance of EUR 130 billion, capital investments increased by 4,4%. "We have a steady, at the moment small but still steady growth of the economy," the Russian president concluded.
According to the Russian president, relations between Moscow and Vienna are "developing positively and upwards". He cited the fact that Russia is the second largest investor in the Austrian economy after Germany, noting that "our Austrian partners have invested almost four billion in the Russian economy, while more than 5000 Austrian companies are active in the Russian market. ».