Putin’s stuck on ‘stupid’ sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused an “arrogant” West of treating other countries like colonies and imposing “stupid” sanctions on his nation — and singled out the US for acting as “God’s emissary on Earth.”

Addressing the 25th annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, being held this year with almost no Western participation, a combative Putin repeatedly emphasized Russia’s strength and sovereignty in the face of Western hostility.

“We are strong people and can cope with any challenge,” he said.

Putin singled out the US as Russia’s chief oppressor, arguing that the global superpower considered itself “God’s emissary on Earth,” and viewed other nations as its “colonies” and the people living there as “second-class citizens” who could be crushed economically if they dared resist.

“This is the nature of the current fit of Russophobia in the West, and the mindless, and I’d say, stupid sanctions against Russia,” he said.

Putin argued in his takeno-prisoners keynote that Western sanctions were founded on a false premise that Russia had no economic sovereignty.

“Their calculation was clear: to crush the Russian economy by ruthlessly destroying business ties, yanking companies from the Russian market, freezing national assets, striking manufacturing and finances, and the people’s living standards, but they failed.

“It has not worked . . . Step by step, we are normalizing the economic situation,” Putin boasted.

Putin drew enthusiastic applause when he reaffirmed his determination to continue the “special military operation” in Ukraine.