ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — Force used by the West with regard to some countries in the Middle East and North Africa has led small countries like North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons to protect themselves, he said.
"Let us agree on a unified understanding of norms, fundamental principles of the international law and adhere to these rules. Because as long as there are none, as long as the rule of the strongest, the fist law, is being implemented, we will encounter problems that we are now witnessing in North Korea," Putin said during a SPIEF-2017 session.
According to the president, small countries see no other way to protect their independence, security and sovereignty than by acquiring nuclear weapons, which is a result of abuses of power.
"[They] destroyed Iraq, Libya, were close to destroying Syria. Stirred up the situation in Egypt, Tunisia, leaving them in a terrible state, let alone the processes that occurred in other countries such as Somalia. After that [they] got to the so-called post-Soviet space… And supported a coup d'etat [in Ukraine]… This is a support for the armed seizure of power," the Russian president said.
SPIEF, held in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg between Thursday and Saturday, is a major global platform for communication between business representatives and the discussion of crucial economic issues. Sputnik News Agency is an official media partner of the forum.
