Putin Says West Trying To Restrain Russia’s Development From Fear Of Competition

Washington's sanctions against the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and other scientific organizations can only be seen as US attempts to restrain Russia's development, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with participants of the Congress of Young Scientists.

"What we can state is that these restrictions and sanctions are being introduced on the grounds of ensuring the security of the United States. How does your institute threaten the security of the United States? This is complete nonsense," he said, commenting on restrictions against MIPT and other Russian scientific organizations.

According to Putin, such measures have only one explanation: they are an attempt to contain the development of Russia.

Elaborating on this topic, the head of state recalled the situation in the mid-1990s.

"We [Russia] were all good and everyone liked it when they sent us potatoes as humanitarian aid. Thank you for that, many did it sincerely," the Russian President said.

But in general, as soon as Russia began to get out of its difficulties and began to develop, it turned into a competitor for the Western countries and they started to pursue the policy of containment against it, Putin went on.

Earlier, the US Department of Commerce put MIPT on the list of legal entities that, according to Washington, are the "military end users" of the products. This is according to a notice published on November 24 in the electronic database of the US Federal Register. Organizations on the list are subject to a stricter export control regime.

The West launched its policy of containment in relation to Russia because the country began to get out of its difficulties and develop as a competitor, Vladimir Putin said.

Russia began to compete in production, science, and energy, the head of state added. "And this is what they don’t like. Therefore, our so-called partners began to pursue a policy of containment," Putin said.

He drew attention to the fact that this policy towards Russia is nothing new and has been pursued for centuries.

"If you look at the diplomatic correspondence, say, at the beginning of the 19th century, you will see: as if everything was written yesterday. That is simply amazing. When you read it - it is all the same word for word," he said.

Now Western countries have returned to such rhetoric precisely because they are afraid of competition, the head of state said.

"Science and education are one of the areas of competition, one of the areas to restrain the development of Russia," he noted.

To be able to successfully resist sanctions Russia needs to strengthen its sovereignty Putin went on. He underscored that science is the future of any country because technological achievements take shape in "concrete development results."

"So how can we respond to it [sanctions]? Globally, of course, we need to strengthen our sovereignty," Putin said, referring to US sanctions against Russian science.

The President recalled that although Russia is the largest supplier of energy resources to the world market, the country purchases a significant part of equipment related to oil production abroad.

"Could we avoid it [such a situation] in due time? Yes, we could, of course. But we did not pay attention, because it did not occur to us that the situation could develop as it is today," he said.