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| Lord Mandelson has said that the invasion of Crimea was an illegal annexation that will be cutting the country off from foreign investment |
Lord Mandelson has told members of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle that the invasion of Crimea was an illegal annexation that would become a “self-inflicted economic wound” for Russia by cutting the country off from foreign investment.
The former Labour business secretary was speaking at the St Petersburg Economic Forum, a gathering designed to mirror the Davos convention and dubbed a “vanity summit” for Putin as he attempts to mask Russia economic malaise.
He was appearing alongside Kremlin loyalists including Sergei Glazyev, Putin’s chief adviser on Ukraine and Vladimir Yakunin, the president of Russian Railways and a potential successor to his friend, the president . Both men are subject to Western travel bans and asset freezes.
Alexei Uljukaev, the economic development minister, Anton Siluanov, the finance minister, and Anatoly Chubais, the architect of the mass privatisations in the 1990s that created Russia’s oligarch class were also on the panel.
The invasion will become a “Pyrrhic victory” for Moscow and the country cannot turn its back on markets and finance from the rest of the world, Lord Mandelson said. » | Matthew Holehouse, Political Correspondent | Thursday, May 22, 2014
