Putin calls sanctions "covert form" of protectionism

Russian President Vladimir Putin attacked sanctions against his country and called for an end to trade protectionism, in an editorial published in Germany Thursday ahead of the G20 summit.

Sanctions against Russia "are not just short-sighted but go against the principles of the G20 for cooperation in the interests of all countries," Putin wrote in the business daily Handelsblatt.

"I am convinced that only open trade relations, based on uniform norms and standards, can stimulate the growth of the world economy and promote an improvement in relations between states," he added.

Putin said that protectionism was becoming widespread and a behavioural norm. "And unilaterally imposed and politically motivated sanctions on investment, trade and, in particular, technology transfer become its covert form," Putin said.

The United States and the European Union (EU) and other countries have imposed a raft of sanctions against Russia for its seizure of Crimea in 2014 and its backing for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has responded with measures of its own, including a ban on Western food imports.

Last month, the US added 38 individuals and entities to its sanctions list, prompting Russia to cancel a meeting with senior US diplomats and its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, to warn the new measures "seriously threaten the whole relationship" between Moscow and Washington.

Putin is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump in Hamburg on Friday.

The two-day Group of 20 summit, starting in Hamburg on Friday, will bring together the leaders of the world's biggest developed and emerging economies under the theme, "Shaping an Interconnected World."

The topics include issues of international importance related to economic and financial issues, like climate change, migration, terrorism and security.