Russia will act in its best interests when developing its economy, but will do so without impairing other countries, said Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 2018 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday, TASS reported.

The policy of sanctions and protectionism, pursued by some countries, may have a very negative impact on the global economy, he went on. "There are a lot of businessmen here who know very well that if a party to a contract leaves the legal framework, it always means significant risks and losses," Putin said. "It is an axiom of business. Globally, if a whole country, particularly a center of power, acts that way, the situation may have negative - if not devastating - consequences," he added.

According to the Russian president, disregard for the existing rules and loss of mutual trust may overlap with unpredictability and turbulence brought by technological changes. "Such a confluence of factors may lead to a systemic crisis that the world has either never witnessed before or has not experienced for a long time. It will affect all the economic actors, with no exceptions," Putin pointed out.

He added that mutual mistrust puts the prospects for global economic growth into question and even may "push the global economy back to the remote past, to the period of natural economy when everyone had to produce everything themselves," he added.