No matter how puffed up: Poland will not become the locomotive of the European economy — Putin

No matter how much Poland wants, it will not be able to become the locomotive of the European economy. This was stated at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The situation in the European economy, as we have just said, is not easy. I'm not talking about Germany and France. They, especially Germany, have recently been the locomotives of the European economy. And no matter how much Poland wants to, by the way, it will not become such a locomotive. She wants to be one of the leaders of the European Union. We see this, but it is difficult, a very difficult task for her in the near historical perspective," Putin said, quoted by TASS.

According to Putin, Germany and France are losing this status due to stagnation "and due to the fact that their budget deficit is too large, many times more" than in Russia.