Putin Assails Western-Created Economic Groupings

Putin said current institutions created by the West were "archaic, undemocratic, and inflexible."

This is "clearly visible in the example of the [World Trade Organization (WTO)]," he added.

Speaking to an audience of world leaders and top chief executives at the St. Petersburg  International Economic Forum, Putin said the emergence of developing economies "demands the creation of a new architecture of international economic relations based on trust and mutually beneficial integration."

Russian officials have reportedly sought at the conference to reassure global business elites that the country is a desirable partner despite strains with the West.

Russia has sought since the mid-1990s to join the WTO, and senior Russian officials were in talks today with U.S., European, and WTO officials.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has said that "without Russia, the WTO is not really the multilateral institution it wants to be; and without belonging to the WTO, Russia has not yet created the sort of capital of trust in the future of its economy."

"If 50 years ago, the [Group of Eight] countries accounted for 60 percent of the world's GDP, the current situation is vice versa -- about 60  percent of world GDP is produced beyond their borders," Putin said.

(AFP)