According to today's Russian television (RT), on March 16 local time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a speech that the latest unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and its allies due to the conflict in Ukraine marked the end of an era. From now on, the West will lose its "global dominance" politically and economically.

Putin said, "the myth of western welfare states, that is, the so-called gold billion (referring to the relatively rich people in industrialized countries or western countries) is collapsing. The world has to pay for Western ambitions and attempts to maintain its shaky dominance at all costs." He believes that, in the final analysis, the desire of the west to maintain its global dominance is the root cause of the continuous turmoil in Ukraine and the crises in other parts of the world.

When talking about the decision of several Western powers to freeze the assets of the Central Bank of Russia, Putin said it would only irreparably undermine trust in these countries and make other countries think twice before depositing foreign exchange reserves in these countries. Putin pointed out that nearly half of Russia's assets have been "stolen" by the West.

Putin said that the Western sanctions are a blow to Russia, but also hurt the global economy. "As their weapon, (Western countries) choose to implement economic, financial, trade and other sanctions against Russia. Now these sanctions have a negative effect on Europe and the United States, because of the rise in gasoline, energy and food prices related to the Russian market and the increase in unemployment in the United States and Europe."

He said that the current situation is a lesson for Russian entrepreneurs. They should learn to choose partners wisely and remember that "nothing is more reliable than investing at home". Putin said that the sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and its allies are "a deliberate blow to our entire domestic economy, social and humanitarian fields, every family and every citizen of Russia". However, Russia can withstand the pressure and all national development goals must and will be achieved by 2030.

Putin also reminded the western public in his speech that such statements trying to portray Russia as the main source of all their disasters are lies. Many of these problems are the direct result of the "ambition" and "political shortsightedness" of the western government. Putin also said that the western "elites" have turned their country into a "lie Empire", but in any case, Russia will continue to show its position to the world.