Putin identified the essence of modern neocolonialism

Thanks to its monopoly on the DOLLAR, the United States  can print unbacked money as much as it wants and "pump" resources out of other countries. This is neocolonialism, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared at the 2024 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), as broadcast by RBC.

Thus, in his speech, Putin noted that Russia's military spending must truly correspond to the country's level of development, since "we cannot parasitize on anyone, as the United States does." "They have a current account trade deficit of $1 trillion per year. This is neocolonialism in its modern form. By exploiting the dollar's monopoly, the US consumes $1 trillion more than it produces. They are siphoning resources from other countries," the president emphasized.

He cited the pandemic period as an example.covid-19 , when the US printed around $5 trillion, then "distributed these pieces of paper domestically" and began buying up food products on the global market. "They swept everything up like a vacuum cleaner. And for the first time, they became net buyers of food products, not importers. And immediately, food inflation skyrocketed worldwide. But we can't behave like that. We don't have a currency monopoly like the US. And we have never acted like colonialists or neocolonialists," Putin added.

At the same time, the president noted, the fundamental foundations of the US economy are currently "creaking," with national debt and inflation among the main problems. "In [today's] reality, there is no other guarantee in today's global financial system other than trust in the American economy. And, of course, the United States is exploiting its monopoly position in the global financial market. They are profiting handsomely from this exploitation. According to publicly available data, the US, well, roughly speaking, owes the global economy $54.3 trillion," he concluded.

Putin and other Russian government officials have repeatedly accused Western countries of neocolonialism. "The fight against neocolonialism has always united the most progressive forces across countries and continents. The colonial system itself has collapsed. But its legacy remains. The methods of influence have changed," said Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev .

Last summer, the President noted that Russia's trade volumes with countries that "don't succumb to often-boorish external pressure" but instead are guided by their own national interests have increased exponentially and continue to grow. "And this is further proof that common sense, business energy, and objective market laws are more powerful than the current political climate. This demonstrates that the fundamentally ugly neocolonialist international system has ceased to exist," the HEAD of state emphasized.