UPDATE 2: Putin: US to keep restraining Russia as global economic rival

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MOSCOW, Jun 20 (PRIME) -- The U.S. will continue its attempts to restrain Russia as a global economic rival the way it does with China, President Vladimir Putin said in a direct open question and answer session on Thursday.

"The essence of the attack against Huawei is restraining China's development as the state has become a rival of another global power, the United States… The same is happening toward Russia and will continue in the future," he said.

Russia is ready for a dialogue with the U.S., but it will be difficult considering the restrictions of the U.S. authorities and the beginning of the election campaign.

"Even if a president is willing to cooperate, wants to negotiate, there is a plenty of restrictions from other authorities. Besides, the president now has to take into account the requirements of the election campaign which has already started."

Russia is the only military superpower that cuts military spending.

The relationship between Russia and the West are unlikely to change dramatically soon, the president also said and added that Moscow cannot make peace because it quarreled with nobody.

Russia lost about U.S. $50 from sanctions while the loss the of the E.U. amounts to $240 billion, of the U.S. to $17 billion, and of Japan to $27 billion.

Russia should become stronger economically to win its global niche. The plan includes the agricultural sector which is a great success with exports standing at $25.7 billion in 2018. The exports may rise to $45 billion until 2024.

Russians' real income gradually recovers after a several-year decline.

"The people's real income used to decrease during several years. The steepest slide was registered in 2016. The income is gradually recovering now."

Russia's average nominal wage has increased to around 44,000–45,000 rubles in 2019 from 33,200 rubles in 2017, and annual inflation dropped to under 5%.

Each case of paying wages below the subsistence level should be investigated.

"We have made a decision to increase the minimal wage to 11,280 rubles so if a person works fulltime, they should not earn less… (Each case of infringement of the law) should be investigated by respective authorities."

One of the top priorities for the government is increasing income of retirees.

It is a real mistake of the government that the Finance Ministry had sent no sufficient financing to the banks to ensure a reduced mortgage rate of 6% for families with children.

Families with an income of around 45,000 rubles or less will get 10,000–11,000 rubles of aid to raise each child from January 1, 2020.

The central bank should pay attention to retail lending risks to avoid financial bubbles.

The ultimate goal of Russia's national projects is to re-orient the economy to ensure the state security and increase the living standards.

"This is colossal work, first of all we need to understand… what the financing sources of the projects designed by the state are."

In 2018, Putin signed a decree on Russia’s national goals and strategic development tasks till 2024 in which he ordered the government to ensure the country’s entry into the top five of global economies, a higher than global rise of the national economy, and inflation not exceeding 4%.

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