US waging economic war on Russia – Kremlin

The US is waging an economic war against Russia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the press on Wednesday.

"The US has certainly declared economic war on Russia, and they are waging this war. Yes, de facto they are," said Peskov.

His comments referred to a statement made by the US State Department's Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, who said on Tuesday that “from the US perspective, the end game is the strategic defeat of President Putin in this adventure [war in Ukraine]”.

Also on Tuesday, US President Jo Biden banned all imports of Russian oil and gas, admitting that the decision was "not without cost at home," but taken "in close consultation" with allies.

Western nations have imposed several rounds of unprecedented sanctions against Russia, effectively cutting the country off from international financial system, freezing the assets of the central bank thus restricting its ability to access most of the $630 billion in reserves needed to support the domestic economy and currency. The Russian ruble has lost nearly 50% of its value since the war in Ukraine began two weeks ago.

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