Photo: AFP/Pavel Bednyakov
Eurasia/TASS
15/10/2023 19:23
"The trends are as follows: The countries of the so-called ‘golden billion’ are gradually, due to purely objective circumstances, losing their leadership despite their attempts to hold on to it," Putin said, according to TASS.
Russia’s head of state noted that production volumes are increasing in the countries of the Global South and in Asia. He recounted that GDP volumes have become greater in the BRICS countries, particularly following the group’s recent expansion, and now have "significantly exceeded the G7 countries." "The trend toward economic growth and [rising] weight of the countries of Asia and the rest of the world is continuing; that’s what is most important. Moreover, this is an objective, [irrefutable] process; there is no getting away from it," the Russian leader said.
Putin noted that the formation of a multipolar world system would follow in the wake of this shift in the economic and political center of gravity.
"The heart of the matter does not concern just the events in Ukraine, and it’s not even so much [about them]. Of course, they are serving to accelerate these changes, but the overall global trends are precisely about this, the trends toward economic development," he said.
China’s Defense Ministry announced that China, Russia, and Mongolia have held their first-ever joint border defense drills, dubbed Border Defence Cooperation 2025.
On the eve of his visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the strength of Moscow–Beijing relations, pledging deeper cooperation in politics, security, trade and culture, while warning against Western attempts to “revise” the results of World War II.