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Russian President Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin - Russian politician.

Born on October 7, 1952, in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Prez made a speech today to Asian leaders in Astana, taking the opportunity to defend one of his theses, which he has been emphasizing recently, namely: that Moscow is fighting the West to create a fairer world, Reuters reported.

All about the topic:

Russian invasion of Ukraine 7617

Amid tightening Western economic sanctions, Putin has shifted emphasis from fighting alleged "fascists" in Kyiv to confronting the "collective West" that is arming Ukraine to expand its influence at Russia's expense.

"The world is becoming truly multipolar. And Asia, where new centers of power are emerging, plays a significant, if not a key, role in it," the Russian leader pointed out.

He stated this at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, which was held in the Kazakh capital Astana.

Putin and Erdogan did not discuss the conflict in Ukraine at their meeting

In it, Putin described the West as a neo-colonial power that seeks to slow down the development of the rest of the world and exploit poorer countries.

"Like many of our partners in Asia, we believe that a review is needed of the global financial system, which for decades has allowed the self-proclaimed so-called "golden billion", which diverts all capital flows and technology to itself, to lives largely at the expense of others," Putin said.

The phrase "golden billion" became popular in Russian political discourse in the 1990s as part of the theory that Western countries are involved in a conspiracy to exploit other countries' resources, BTA explains.

Kyiv and the West reject the notion that they threaten or belittle Russia, which they say is waging an aggressive imperialist war against Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz today described the war in Ukraine as part of Russia's "crusade" against liberal democracy, Reuters recalls.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Vladimir Putin