Kremlin accuses the West of ‘excessive emotion’
The Kremlin is hopeful that Western nations will reconsider their perception of Russia in the future, it has said, as the US and a number of its allies in Europe continue to impose severe and wide-ranging sanctions on Moscow in response to its military attack on Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov set out his view on the prospect of Russia’s relations with the West improving.
“We hope that, sooner or later, our position will be understood by EU countries and NATO member states,” he said.
According to Peskov, these nations “take an excessively emotional approach and refuse to understand very many obvious things.”
Commenting on whether Moscow was effectively being shut out by the West, Peskov said that, while “there is the abandonment of relations, the winding-down of economic ties, the introduction of various sanctions by a number of states, such as European countries, the US, Canada, Japan, and others, this does not mean Russia’s isolation.”
“In the world, as you know, there are many other countries [then these] that have a much more balanced, sometimes more reasonable attitude to the dynamics of international relations. We prefer not to talk about isolation and are clear that we should not discuss it,” he said.
His remarks come after a number of governments announced sanctions against Moscow and several of its officials in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this week, the EU revealed plans to exclude seven Russian banks from the SWIFT global payment system.
US President Joe Biden hit Russia with a new wave of embargoes last Thursday, insisting the offensive was a “premeditated attack.” According to Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin is “the aggressor [who] chose this war, and now he and his country will bear the consequences.”
Russia’s incursion into its neighbor came after the leaders of the recently recognized Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics appealed for assistance to counter what they claimed was a spike in aggression from Kiev. According to the Kremlin, the invasion was aimed at crippling Ukraine’s military and ridding the country of so-called “Nazi” elements.
