Russia's Putin: Attempts to destroy WTO or lower its role counter-productive

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that attempts to lower the role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or to destroy it are counter-productive.

"This is clear that it (global trade) needs to be adopted to the present-day developments... We consider counter-productive any attempts to destroy WTO or to lower its role," Putin said at a meeting of leaders from the BRICs countries on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. He added that the current situation in the global economy was worrying as global trade was feeling the effect of "protectionism, (and) politically motivated restrictions."