Naryshkin: Russia will not let anyone isolate it

State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin said that Russia does not plan to isolate itself and will not let anyone do it either. "Of course the situation in the Russian economy, as well as in the world economy, is not easy. There are not only objective, but also subjective reasons for that," Tass cited him. 

According to him, one of the reasons is that "governments of a number of Western countries, that had always defended the principles of the market economy, suddenly became its biggest violators," he added. "They introduced the so-called anti-Russian sanctions that have nothing in common with international law and WTO principles."

"However, Russia does not want to be isolated from the world economy and, of course, does not plan to isolate itself and will not let anyone do it either, no matter how hard anyone tries," Naryshkin promised. In this regard, the speaker confirmed that "strengthening international cooperation - both political and economic - is now as important as fighting for observing international law".

Naryshkin also expressed confidence that "both the political and legal systems of the modern democratic Russia, the potential of the Russian economy, along with the rather high level of unity in Russian society, allow us to withstand any external challenges and, more than that, to turn them into stimuli for the country’s development."

"Undoubtedly, oil prices always were and still remain a special factor in the development of the Russian economy. However, even in the most difficult situations, the result is determined not by new external circumstances, but by the reaction to these circumstances," Naryshkin believes. The speaker said it is important to think about what advantages could be provided by current oil prices and currency exchange rates; what tasks may be solved more efficiently than before; which spheres of the economy can gain competitive advantages; what reforms should be carried out in the oil and gas sector; and, finally, how the efficiency of government regulation can be increased in the current conditions.

"All of this, of course, should be followed by unconditional adherence to the constitutional guarantees of freedom of economic activity, labor and private property," Naryshkin stressed.