Putin Calls U.S. Debt ‘Serious Problem’ as He Defends Greece

Source: Bloomberg

by Andrey BiryukovAnna Andrianova
July 10, 2015 — 9:36 AM EDT



Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a news conference after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Ufa, Russia, on July 10, 2015.
Photographer: Ivan Sekretarev/AP Photo

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of dangers to the global economy from U.S. borrowing while saying Greece isn’t solely to blame for its debt crisis.

“It’s a serious problem not just for the United States but for the whole world economy,” Putin told reporters Friday in the Russian city of Ufa in response to a question on the prospects of the biggest developing nations. “Debt exceeds gross domestic product there.”

Putin said he’s concerned about Greece and hopes its crisis will be resolved soon, reiterating that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hasn’t asked him for financial aid. Even so, he said Russia has the resources to help its partners.

Putin is battling his own economic woes after sanctions over Ukraine and a drop in oil prices triggered Russia’s first recession in six years. This isn’t the first time the Russian leader has attacked U.S. economic policy: he’s previously derided the “dollar monopoly” that allows the U.S. to act like a “parasite” on the global economy.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-10/putin-calls-u-s-debt-serious-problem-while-defending-greece