Putin blasts US for ignoring interests

Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia

Despite the showdown with the West over Ukraine, Moscow wants to cooperate with Washington and its allies in dealing with the threat posed by the Islamic State group and other global challenges, President Vladimir Putin said Friday as he tried to allay investors’ fears over Russia’s course.

Putin blamed the United States for ignoring Russia’s interests and trying to enforce its will on others, but he also sent conciliatory signals, saying that Moscow wants a quick settlement to the Iranian nuclear standoff and a peaceful political transition in Syria.

Speaking at a major economic forum, Putin also insisted that Russia wants February’s Ukraine peace agreement to succeed. Fighting there will stop, he said, once Ukraine provides broader rights to its eastern regions, gives amnesty to the rebels and calls local elections there.

The annual event, intended to burnish Russia’s image before global investors, was tarnished by the freezing of Russian accounts in France and Belgium on Thursday as part of an effort to enforce a $50 billion judgment to compensate shareholders of the now-defunct Yukos oil company.

At a meeting with top executives of global news agencies, including The Associated Press, Putin sought to downplay the freeze and said that Russia will contest it.