Putin defends 'open economy' amid 'arm-twisting'

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STORY: Russian President Vladimir Putin told the St. Petersburg Economic Forum on Friday (June 17) that Moscow would continue to develop as an "open economy" despite unprecedented Western sanctions imposed after it sent forces into neighboring Ukraine.

Putin added that a sanctions "blitzkrieg" against Moscow had never had any chance of succeeding.

Western allies led by the European Union and the United States have imposed the most severe economic sanctions that any nation has faced in modern history since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.