Putin Says US Unilateralism Undermines Global Trade

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA —

Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the United States for using pressure and sanctions to maintain its economic supremacy.

Speaking Friday at an investment forum in St. Petersburg, Putin said the U.S. attempt to "spread its jurisdiction to the entire world" challenges the global order.

He said globalization "becomes a parody of itself when common international rules are replaced with laws, administrative and judicial mechanisms of one country or a group of countries."

Flanked by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the forum's panel, Putin said the U.S. action against Chinese telecom giant Huawei represented an attempt to "blatantly squeeze it out of the global market."

It is, he said, "the first technological war of the digital era."

Putin warned that the "fragmentation of the global economic space, the policy of unrestrained political egoism" paves the way to "endless conflicts and trade wars ... fights without rules between all."

He specifically criticized U.S. attempts to hamper the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline intended to carry Russian natural gas to Germany and further on in Europe, saying it reflects the U.S. desire to win advantages for itself.

Xi said Russia and China would coordinate their efforts in the energy sphere more closely.

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