Russia’s Putin: Western Policies are “Colonialism in New Package”

By Staff, Agencies

The BRICS group is not trying to compete with or oppose any other nation or group, but nevertheless faces resistance from countries of the so-called “golden billion” that wish to preserve their global dominance, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the BRICS summit in South Africa via video link on Thursday, the Russian leader pointed out that the group’s efforts to create a new world order based on multipolarity has “irreconcilable opponents” who wish to slow down the process and restrain the formation of new and independent centers of development and influence in the world.

Putin said that states of the “golden billion” are doing everything in their power to preserve a unipolar world that suits them and is beneficial to them. “They are trying to replace the system of international law with their own so-called rules-based-order,” the president said, adding that no one has actually seen the rules, which are constantly being changed and adapted to benefit the interests of individual countries.

The Russian leader went on to state that the way the countries operate is tantamount to colonialism, but “in a new package, which, by the way, doesn’t look that good.”

“Modern colonialists, hiding behind the good slogans of democracy and human rights, seek to solve their problems at someone else’s expense, continuing to shamelessly pump resources out of developing countries,” Putin claimed.

At the same time, he maintained that these “modern colonialists” also create financial relationships with developing economies that make it nearly impossible for the borrowers to pay off their debts.

“It no longer looks like loan obligations, but like an indemnity,” Putin said.