Putin Calls for End to Use of Sanctions and Criticizes US in Afghanistan - nytimes

MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called on Friday for an end to the use of punitive financial and economic sanctions around the world, saying they should be “excluded from the international economic vocabulary.”

Mr. Putin, whose country has been battered by sanctions over its policies in Ukraine, called for the swift lifting of all such measures against Iran once a deal is reached to regulate Iran’s nuclear program.

He spoke to reporters at a gathering of heads of state in Ufa, Russia, for meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the so-called BRICS group — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — of rising economic powers.

By mentioning Iran in his remarks, Mr. Putin sought to place his criticism of sanctions in a broader global context. But it was impossible not to hear his remarks as a pointed complaint about Russia’s own economic travails.

In addition to his remarks on sanctions, Mr. Putin sharply criticized the American-led war effort in Afghanistan, telling Asian leaders that a decade of Western military intervention had failed to improve security there.

“The deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan, where a 10-year presence of the international military contingent has not brought any qualitative improvement of the situation, raises serious concern,” Mr. Putin said in his speech to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s annual meeting. President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan was among those in attendance.

“The situation is aggravated by the growing activity of the so-called Islamic State, a terrorist organization striving to extend its influence,” Mr. Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript.

Afghanistan has observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, whose full members are Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India, Iran and Pakistan are expected to become full members within the next year or so. - Read More

• Putin Calls for End to Use of Sanctions and Criticizes U.S. in Afghanistan

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