No One Wants Trade Wars except Initiators of Such Measures - Putin

By Staff, Agencies

No one in the world wants restrictions and trade wars, except those who initiate them, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday at a press conference following the Belt and Road summit in Beijing.

"No one wants any restrictions, no one wants any trade wars, expect those who initiate these processes, I believe. The overwhelming majority, almost 100 percent [of people] are sure that these restrictions and wars damage the global economy and its development", Putin said.

All the countries, with representatives of which Putin has met on the sidelines of the forum, want to cooperate with Russia, he added.

“We have very kind business relations with many of our partners, with the overwhelming majority of the world's countries, and we value this. All whom I have met want to work with us.”

While not naming any particular country, Putin apparently referred to the trade wars initiated by US President Donald Trump's administration to counter what Washington describes as "unfair" economic relations, provoking a trade imbalance.

Particularly, a trade dispute between Beijing and Washington has been underway since last June when Trump announced that the US would impose import tariffs on Chinese goods worth of $50 billion in a bid to fix the trade deficit between the two countries. Since then, China and the US have exchanged several rounds of trade tariffs.

The US has also been locked in what appeared to be an escalating trade war with the EU after the Trump administration imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the bloc as well as from Canada and Mexico.

Putin attended the second Belt and Road international forum that was held in the Chinese capital of Beijing from Friday to Saturday.