Vladimir Putin attacks sanctions, protectionism on eve of G20

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

Sanctions against Russia, imposed because of the Ukraine crisis, "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, urging "open trade relations, based on uniform norms and standards".