Russia won't ‘fence itself off' from global economy: Putin

Russia is not going to isolate itself from global economy and produce everything on its own, but self-sufficiency is needed in critical areas, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the prime ministers of the EAEU's member countries.

"We are certainly not going to fence ourselves off from anyone - from the world economy - especially from promising centers of the world economy. This does not mean that we must produce everything at home at any cost. We have nothing of the kind in our plans," the Russian leader said.

"We will strive and, of course, remain a significant part of the global economy as a whole. But in critical areas, of course, it would be better - I will say so carefully - for us to be independent, because self-sufficiency is the basis of sovereignty," he stressed.

One such area is the country's digital independence, he noted.

"We must continue to work actively on the formation of a single digital ecosystem that unites national systems of electronic public services and electronic governments," he urged in this regard.

Putin noted that in recent years Russia has made great strides in this area.

"It seems to me that we have the right to say that we are, of course, world leaders in this field, without a doubt," Putin said. He specified that Russia is ready to share its best practices and experience in this area with each of the partner states in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the CIS.