OREANDA-NEWS  Russia is not isolated from the world and continues to build cooperation with friendly countries. This was stated by President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with the Council of Legislators.

According to the head of state, there are many people in the USA and Europe who "think the same way with us." However, the President stressed that the elites in these countries do not share their opinions — such a policy may not be aimed at the interests of their own citizens. "And it will come back to them," Putin said.

"We are not going to go to Russia's self—isolation, on the contrary, we will expand pragmatic, equal, mutually beneficial, exclusively partnership relations with friendly countries in Eurasia, Africa, Latin America," the Russian president concluded.

Putin also said that Russia will not follow the rules that the West seeks to impose on the international community. The President recalled the attempts of "former partners in some countries" to force other states to follow in the wake of their views. By doing this, they destroy both the legal framework and channels for dialogue, he noted.