RUSSIA’S special military operation in Ukraine is a ‘forced measure’ and Moscow was left without other options, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday while assuring the international community that Russia did not intend to ‘damage’ the global economic system. Addressing top Russian business leaders here, Putin explained that the security risks for Russia were made so high it was impossible to react with other means.

 

“This is the most important thing, it must be clear: the things that are happening are a forced measure,” the Russian leader said as the West, led by the US condemned Putin’s unilateral military actions and threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia. “They simply left us without options to act differently,” Putin said. Russia remains part of the global economy, he said. The Russian President also said that his country was prepared for what is happening in terms of sanctions imposed by Western countries.