Putin rejects claims that Russia is isolated, which bodes bright economic prospects.

President Vladimir V. Putin on Friday dismissed suggestions that Russia had become isolated from its invasion of Ukraine, telling an audience in St. Petersburg that the Russian economy was resilient and that Moscow’s ties with other countries had grown.

The Russian leader was speaking at the annual international economic forum in St. Petersburg, which has long been the country’s premier event for attracting Western investors. Since last year’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the Western economic sanctions imposed as a result, the forum has transformed into a shadow of its former self.

Mr. Putin has repeatedly tried to reassure his domestic audience that despite sanctions, Russia can support its economy by targeting Asia and other regions. He struck a similar tone on Friday, telling the forum that Russia has not been on the path of “isolationism,” but rather has “extensive contacts” with what he described as “reliable” partners.

In his speech, Mr. Putin barely mentioned the war, only referring to it indirectly in terms of the economic challenges posed by Western sanctions, which he suggested would ultimately make Russia stronger. “The fabric of economic life was being rewoven,” he said.

While Putin said Russia’s public finances were “generally balanced,” he acknowledged that military spending on arms purchases had increased “naturally.”

“We are obliged to do this to protect the sovereignty of our country,” he said.

But the war was the subject of the first question posed after Mr Putin’s speech, to which the Russian leader replied by repeating his false claim that Ukraine should be ‘denazified’.

Putin accused Western countries of taking “drastic measures” to ensure Russia’s defeat by supplying weapons to Kiev, but said an increase in Russian defense production would help curb supplies.

He also rejected suggestions that Ukraine was seeing success in its recently launched counter-offensive, telling the public that Kiev’s armed forces suffered serious casualties and had “no chance”.

Major trading partners such as China and India have sent representatives to the St Petersburg event, as have a small number of Russia’s other Asian, Middle Eastern, African and Latin American friends. Yet the Western world in particular has stayed away.