Russia looks East not West for future prosperity

Russia will rely on Eastern more than Western markets in future, says the senior Russian politician amid strains in relations with the US and EU over Ukraine.

'All our prospects lie not with the West but with the East,' he said in Chelyabinsk at a meeting with teachers and students. 'In the East, Russia borders on Japan, China, India is close by, the two Koreas, the entire southeast Asia. All the future history of the 21st century will be there, in the East, surely not in the West confined in the small European Union.

'The European Union is experiencing some psychological, mental complexes all the time, they are imposing some sanctions.'

He spoke as Beijing's state-owned China Development Bank confirmed plans to invest in the development of the Russian Far East.

'The readiness of the bank to allocate $5 billion for Russia's Far East development projects has been confirmed at a meeting between the Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East, Alexander Galushka, and the president of China Development Bank, Zheng Zhijie', said a statement from the ministry. 

Investment will go into creating zones of development, financing infrastructure projects and implementing long-term regional investment programmes.

Rogozin, deputy premier in overall charge of Russia's space and defence industries, lambasted the West over Ukraine. He is one of a number of Russian politicians targeted for sanctions by the US and EU. 

'Look what is happening with Ukraine, how they are tearing it apart,' he said. 'How the West is trying to tear up the country that has always been connected with us in blood, they are actually our people. 

'Nevertheless, everything being done with respect to Ukraine and in Ukraine, how American special services and special services of other Western states are working there, shows one thing: for them, Ukraine is not important, they are not working for the good of Ukraine, they are working to the detriment of us.

'For them, Ukraine is a war with Russia, the worse for us, the better for them.'

He asked: 'So why have they included me in the sanctions list? Cannot go to America, cannot buy a yacht, cannot ride a luxury car. Do they think we are really going to be sad about this? We now have Crimea, we will go there'.