Vladimir Putin delivers keynote address at St Petersburg forum

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin delivered the keynote address at Russia's showcase St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Here are some quotations from Putin at the event, translated by Reuters.

RUSSIAN ECONOMY:

"Positive macroeconomic trends are gaining momentum... I agree with those of our experts who believe that growth (this year) will be... somewhere up to 1.5%, and maybe even (just) under 2%. And this will allow our country to keep its place among the leading economies of the world."

"The dynamics of non-oil and gas revenues attracts attention. In January-May they grew by 9.1%, which is noticeably higher than expected."

RUSSIAN DEFENCE SPENDING:

"Today, our public finances are generally balanced, there is a small current federal budget deficit... Naturally, additional funds were needed to strengthen defence and security, to purchase weapons, we are obliged to do this to protect the sovereignty of our country."

EXIT OF FOREIGN BUSINESSES FROM RUSSIA:

"I will say that if foreign manufacturers want to return again, come to our market, and we hear such conversations more and more often, we are not closing the doors to anyone...

"You know very well that we have never driven anyone from our market or our economy."

NATIONAL CURRENCIES IN INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS:

"Today, about 90% of settlements with the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union are in roubles, more than 80% of settlements with China are in roubles and yuan. We are actively developing trade in national currencies with other states, too."

RETURN OF ASSETS TO RUSSIAN JURISDICTION:

"I ask the government, in contact with the business community, to expedite the return of assets in key industries to Russian jurisdiction ... This must be done before December of this year."

WESTERN FREEZE OF RUSSIAN ASSETS:

"The situation where funds are earned in Russia and then deposited in foreign accounts carries obvious and often unacceptable risks not only for the state, but also for Russian business itself. Many of our businessmen... were surprised to find that their accounts and assets were frozen in the West."

DE-DOLLARISATION:

"We have never had, and do not have, the goal of de-dollarisation of the Russian economy. And we have never had, and do not have, the goal of influencing the de-dollarisation of the world economy. The influence of one or another currency on the world economy is connected with the economic potential of the country that is the issuer of that currency."

OPEC+ AND RUSSIAN ENERGY SECTOR:

"All decisions within OPEC+ to reduce production ... are of a depoliticized nature, they are not connected either with Russia's special military operation or with any other opportunistic considerations, they are related to issues of economic feasibility for both producers and consumers".

"In general, the Russian oil and gas market is in good condition and has excellent development prospects."

UKRAINE CONFLICT:

"Soon Ukraine will stop using its own equipment altogether. Nothing remains of it. Everything with which they fight and everything that they use is brought in from the outside. You can't fight for long like that."

"(Western) tanks are burning. Several tanks have been destroyed, including Leopards... F16s will also burn, there is no doubt. But if they are located outside Ukraine and are used in hostilities, we will have to look at how and where we can hit those weapons used in hostilities against us. There is a serious danger of NATO being further drawn into this armed conflict...

"We have never closed the door (on the idea of Ukraine peace talks)."

RELATIONS WITH UNITED STATES:

"We practically have no contacts, and it wasn't us that rejected them. If there was a desire to conduct some kind of dialogue with us ... they simply transferred this dialogue to the sphere of arms supplies."

NUCLEAR WEAPONS:

"The use of nuclear weapons is certainly theoretically possible. For Russia, this is possible if a threat is created to our territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty, the existence of the Russian state."

UKRAINIAN STRIKES ON RUSSIAN TERRITORY:

"As for (attacks) on these (Russian) border territories, well, this is an attempt to distract us... to force us to transfer some units deployed on other parts of the frontline."

ON U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN:

"President Biden is a grown man and a seasoned politician. It's not for me to tell him what to do. Let him do as he sees fit, and we will do what we believe is in the interests of the Russian Federation and the people of Russia. And everyone will have to reckon with this."

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gareth Jones)