"Russia has sufficiently adapted to sanctions, doesn't fear more": Kremlin
Oct 25, 2023
Moscow [Russia], October 25 : In a veiled attack on the United States and other Western countries, the Kremlin has said that the Russian economy has adapted well to the Western sanctions and Moscow doesn't fear more such action, Al Jazeera reported.
"Russia has been living under a sanctions regime for quite a long time, for decades, and we have sufficiently adapted to it, so such time horizons as five to 10 years do not scare us," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.
Kremlin further said that the sanctions have "boosted" its domestic economy and industrial production.
Notably, on February 25, 2022 -- a day after Russia undertook a full-scale invasion of Ukraine -- the European Union introduced wide-ranging sanctions intended to send a clear signal to Moscow that there would be severe consequences for the war.
The bloc has imposed 11 sanctions packages to date and last week said it would work to shut down loopholes in the existing measures. EU officials have suggested the sanctions could remain in place for years, Al Jazeera reported.
Some observers argued that the sanctions have been circumvented and have failed to deter Russia in its war against Ukraine.
According to a report by the Norway-based risk consultancy Corisk - which analysed customs data from 12 EU countries, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan - the circumvention of export sanctions on Russia amounted to about 8 billion euros (USD 8.5 billion) in 2022, Al Jazeera reported.
Meanwhile, the Western countries and Kyiv allege that Moscow is engaged in an "unprovoked war of aggression" in Ukraine. On the other hand, Moscow accuses Western powers of using Ukraine to try to weaken and undermine Russia's own security.
