President Putin Says Exclusive Economic Unions Should Not Exist

LIMA (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said there should be no exclusive regional economic unions and all trade blocs must follow universal rules, at the Asia-Pacific economic leaders’ summit in Lima, Peru.

"In my view, if we want to have a meaningful influence on global economic processes, there should be no closed unions. And if they are still created, this will do no good to global trade or economy," he told reporters.

The Russian president criticized the US-EU free trade deal, known as the TTIP, saying only trade that followed universal rules could boost global economic growth.

"Our stance is that regional unions are useful and important, but they must be created and expanded according to universal norms as followed by the World Trade Organization," he stressed.