Russia has managed to turn the tables on the West when it comes to sanctions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday, noting that a myriad of restrictions has failed to crash the Russian economy.
The US and its allies have imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow in response to its military operation in Ukraine, targeting the financial and energy sectors, among others.
“Westerners are struggling because they are seeing that the sanctions are not hitting us as they were supposed to,” Peskov told the broadcaster VGTRK.
“Moreover, as always, Russians have managed to find ways to benefit from them.”
Peskov stressed, however, that Moscow would stay vigilant and closely monitor all restrictions imposed by the West because there “are no lengths they would not go to.”
Western officials have recently acknowledged that the negative impact of the penalties on Russia has not been as significant as expected.
Nevertheless, the EU is currently working on a 12th round of sanctions, which RFE/RL described on Friday as the “weakest EU sanctions package to date on Russia.”
Speaking at a government meeting in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that although the sanctions had “slowed down” certain economic projects, they were also “stimulating development.” Russian officials have said foreign restrictions have ultimately failed to tank the economy, instead providing an opportunity to boost domestic production and reroute existing trade.