As result of partners' refusal to engage in joint projects, Russia, despite difficulties, will benefit from extra expertise in the end - Putin

MOSCOW. March 4 (Interfax) - Foreign partners' refusal to engage in joint projects will cause certain damage to Russia, but, in the end, Russia will cope with these difficulties and will even benefit from this situation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

Speaking at the ceremony to raise the state flag on the Marshal Rokossovsky ferry, Putin underscored that though the ferry is an international cooperation project, it was designed by a Russian design bureau and relies on Russian innovative solutions.

"We have shown many times and are ready to show once again that if someone does not want to cooperate with us as part of joint projects, and thus will cause damage to itself, of course it will cause damage to us as well. But what kind of damage? We will simply have to postpone some projects a little, acquire additional expertise, just as we did it in a whole range of other projects, including in aviation," Putin said.

"But in any case we will cope with these tasks before us and will even benefit from this situation in the end, because we will acquire additional expertise," the president said.