The Russian President made it clear that the West does not need to take Moscow's response to Western weapons strikes on the territory of the country lightly, Samia Nakhul noted
ST. PETERSBURG, June 6. /tass/. Samia Nakhul, editor-in-chief of Reuters global news, who participated in a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and heads of foreign news agencies on Wednesday on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), said that the Russian leader made it clear that the West does not need to take Moscow's response to Western weapons strikes on the territory of the country lightly.
Nakhul commented on the meeting of the head of the Russian state with the leadership of foreign news agencies organized by TASS. "It was the first time I met with President Putin face to face, and it was a good long session - 3 hours and 15 minutes," she said in an interview with TASS.
The main thing, according to the journalist, Putin pointed out that the deployment of missiles against Russia or the use of Western missiles, if they hit the territory inside the Russian Federation, would cause "a response in the same way, as you know, they will also decide to strike at Western allies, such as the United States or Britain, the French, who supply [weapons]".
"He spoke about nuclear weapons, I took it that he repeated the doctrine of the Russian Federation that if Russia's sovereignty is attacked or violated, people should not underestimate or take lightly the fact that Russia will not use these weapons," Samia Nakhul noted.
Ukraine and the Middle East
During the meeting, according to the editor-in-chief of Reuters global news, Putin told the story of the conflict with Ukraine, recalled that "there were violations of the Minsk agreements."
The Russian President also touched upon the topic of the war in the Gaza Strip, the journalist noted. "He indicated how serious it was, and [said] that Russia, together with the United States and everyone else, would also work on a Palestinian state, but Russia would not be the only one, <...> it should be a comprehensive effort by the international community," Samia Nakhul said.
Separately, she pointed out, the topic of Iran was touched upon.
US elections and sanctions
The topic of the upcoming US presidential elections was also discussed at the meeting. "[Putin] said that he doesn't care who will be the next [American] president, because he doesn't think anything will change [from the candidacy of the leader in policy towards Moscow], but the court is against [former US President Donald] Trump is being used for political reasons," the journalist said.
As the editor-in-chief of Reuters global news noted, there were many broad and very specific issues at the meeting. In particular, the head of the Russian state spoke about the sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation. "He said that no country in the world was under such sanctions as Russia, but he said that the economy grew by 3.4% last year, despite the sanctions, and gave a lot of figures," the journalist noted. At the same time, she pointed out, Putin did not deny or say that the sanctions did not affect the country, but said that the Russian economy grew more against this background than in any other state.
Samia Nakhul also shared that she was interested in seeing Gazprom's headquarters in St. Petersburg. "It's so beautiful, luxurious and very well done, 81 floors with a beautiful view," she added.
About SPIEF
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is taking place from June 5-8, its theme in 2024 is "The foundation of a multipolar world is the formation of new growth points." Meetings of representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises, creative business, SPIEF Youth Day, as well as forums "Drug Safety", "SPIEF Academy" and "SPIEF Junior" are planned. The organizer is the Roscongress Foundation. TASS acts as an information partner of the event.
