PUTIN: “A year ago, Western authorities were twisting the arms of their companies and compelled some of them, many of them to leave the Russian market.

PUTIN: “A year ago, Western authorities were twisting the arms of their companies and compelled some of them, many of them to leave the Russian market. At that time, foreign analysts predicted a depression and a decline in the consumer sector for us. They promised us empty shelves in shops. Massive shortages of goods and the collapse of the services sector.

However, life took a different turn. Now the Western countries themselves have faced these problems in full measure. It got to the point where their leaders suggested that their citizens eat turnips instead of lettuce and tomatoes. Turnips are good produce, but to get them, they will have to come to us because our harvest is much bigger than that of our neighbours in Europe.

True, this may not be their fault. They had a drought and the like, but they can hardly do without our fertilisers if they want to increase their crop yields. At any rate, this calls to mind a Russian proverb: “He who digs a pit for others falls in himself.” It seems that this is exactly what is happening.”