“The sanctions imposed by western countries against Russia over the past four years have had no effect on the country,” according to Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for President Vladimir Putin.
Peskov made the statement today on Telegram channel Yunashev Live.
Economic sanctions against Russia have been a key part of the western strategy against Russia, driving up the economic cost of its war against Ukraine.
The European Union has imposed 18 rounds of sanctions on Russia, targeting its energy revenues, banking sector and military-industrial complex, while also strengthening anti-circumvention measures. A 19th package of sanctions is now expected.
“Sanctions are an agenda driven primarily by the Kyiv regime and European countries. They are doing everything they can to draw Washington into their orbit and impose these sanctions,” Peskov said.
“In general, we can probably say one thing: This unprecedented number of sanctions, which have been imposed against our country over the last, one might say, four years, did not have any effect,” the Kremlin spokesman said.
He said the measures had “turned out to be absolutely useless in terms of exerting pressure on Russia”.
Peskov emphasised that Russia would continue to pursue its goals.
“It would be preferable for us to achieve our objectives and ensure our security through political and diplomatic means, but when this is impossible due to a lack of reciprocity, we continue with the special military operation,” he concluded.
In 2024, the IMF reported that Russia’s economy grew faster than all advanced economies.
Oil exports have “held steady” and government spending has “remained high” contributing to growth, the IMF said, adding that Russia was “remarkably resilient”.
The slowdown of many western economies might, ironically, be the result of their own sanctions against Russia, most of all its cheap energy.
Russia has been able to sell its oil and gas to other partners, while the EU has to pay a lot more for its energy, much continuing to come from Russia, whether repackaged or not.
US President Donald Trump said yesterday that he was open to boosting his country’s sanctions against Russia.
Two days prior, German Gref, Russian lender Sberbank’s chief executive, noted that Russia’s economy entered a “technical stagnation” in the second quarter of this year. This was in part due to high inflation, a result of costly military expenditures, he said.
Economic development minister Maxim Reshetnikov said the economy was “cooling faster than expected” and that the government’s new forecasts would be presented “shortly”.
EU to cut Russia’s oil cash, if the West can agree. pic.twitter.com/DCvGc6lY3i
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) June 12, 2025
