Every normal economy should be ecological, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in his video blog, as the world celebrates World Environmental Day.
"Unfortunately, it was with much delay that we realized that protecting the environment is essential, that the objectives of economic and ecological development are interconnected," Medvedev said.
"Without a strict adherence to ecological standards we will have no future," he added.
Medvedev said that Russia had inherited colossal environmental problems from the Soviet Union, including over two billion tons of industrial waste as well as run-down reclamation and recycling facilities.
"There are places where the environmental situation is simply harmful for life."
Medvedev said that his recent meeting with Russia's industrial and environmental officials had confirmed his assertion that "ecology and economy do not contradict one another."
"Every normal economy should be ecological," he concluded.
His blog comes amid the ongoing clean-up procedures in the Gulf of Mexico, where a blast ripped through the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform, owned by British Petroleum (BP), in late April, causing the worst oil spill in the history of the United States.
The United Nations declared June 5, when the landmark UN Conference on the Human Environment began, World Environmental Day in 1972.
MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti)
