Putin's more muscular foreign policy?
After a contentious debate over the debt ceiling and final agreement, the U.S. received an unexpected jab from the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin. Putin called the United States a “parasite” that lives off the global economy and that the dollar’s dominance was a threat to financial markets.
In a pre-election speech to the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi at a camp north of Moscow, he said; “They are living beyond their means and shifting a part of the weight of their problems to the world economy“.
“They are living like parasites off the global economy and their monopoly of the dollar,” Putin added at the open-air meeting with Russian youth.
Even though news of the agreement soothed the nerves of global markets, Putin feels that the declining dollar reduces the value of Russia’s reserves, much of which are in dollar holdings. He has criticized the U.S. often, but this is most pointed criticism yet.
Putin further added, “Countries like Russia and China hold a significant part of their reserves in American securities … There should be other reserve currencies.”
Putin’s United Russia party is trying to reverse a slide in popularity before December’s parliamentary elections, hoping to use it as a springboard to launch Putin back into the Russian Presidency in 2012.
What do you think of Putin’s comments?
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