Western sanctions do not mean that Russia will truly be isolated – the world, and Russia itself, are “too big” for that, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Saturday.
Peskov said that the “rejection of relations” following its offensive in Ukraine, and the introduction of restrictions by Europe, the US, Canada, Japan, and others “do not mean the isolation of Russia.”
Russia’s military attack on Ukraine, launched on February 24, prompted the US, the EU, the UK and many other nations to introduce harsh sanctions targeting various sectors of the Russian economy.
“The world is too big for Europe and America to isolate any country, especially one as big as Russia. And in the world, as you know, there are many more countries that have a much more balanced, sometimes more reasonable attitude towards the dynamics of the development of international relations,” Peskov said.
Expressing the hope that Moscow’s Western partners would change their “overly emotional” position, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman pledged that Russia would make an “appropriate” response to the “economic banditry.”
Among the sanctions imposed by the West are closures of airspace to Russian aircraft and the cutting-off of Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system.
Dozens of companies across all sectors have also announced the suspension of their operations in Russia, and the list is lengthening by the day. Such developments have prompted Moscow to seek an expansion of its cooperation with China and other BRICS countries – that is, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – in various areas, including space and sports.
Putin has claimed the Russian offensive in Ukraine was needed to urgently “demilitarize” the country in order to protect the Donbass region and Russia’s own national security. The West and Kiev consider the attack “unlawful” and “unjustified.”