US lost as much as Russia due to sanctions — Putin

The United States has lost as much as Russia as a result of introducing economic sanctions against Russia, President Vladimir Putin told reporters of the summit in Geneva.

"Following introduction of certain restrictions in the sphere of economy and trade turnover, the US losses were as much as Russian ones. Yes, this affected our development. In this sense, the US has partly completed its task of restricting Russia’s development but there is nothing critical in this respect," the Russian leader said.

The fact that the largest delegation at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021, over 200 persons, was from the United States shows the interest of the US business in Russia, Putin said. "As a result of introduced restrictions, particularly for the US companies, US persons left with a loss and gave that business to hands of their competitors from other countries. We talked about that. What was the purpose? There is no sense in that," the President added.

In 2020, the trade turnover between two countries dropped by 9% to $23.8 bln but the export and import flow surged by almost 16% year-on-year during the first four months of this year. "If such a trend remains, I believe it will benefit everyone," Putin added.