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Kremlin: sanctions won't force Russia to change its course

The Kremlin stated on Monday that sanctions would never be able force Russia to alter its course in Ukraine. This was just hours after the United States as well as the European Union had indicated they were considering further sanctions.

The West has imposed a multitude of sanctions against Russia in response to the war in Ukraine in 2022 and the annexation Crimea in 2014. This is in an attempt to undermine the $2.2 trillion Russian economy and President Vladimir Putin's support.

Putin claims that the Russian economy has defied Western predictions and has grown faster than the G7 nations. He has also ordered officials and businesses to resist the sanctions by any means possible.

Peskov said to Kremlin journalist Alexander Yunashev that "no sanctions can force the Russian Federation into changing the consistent position our president has spoken about repeatedly".

Donald Trump, President of the United States

On Sunday, he said he was ready to move on to a second stage of sanctions against Russia. This is the closest he's come to suggesting that he might be about to ramp up sanctions on Moscow or its oil customers over the war in Ukraine.

Antonio Costa, President of the EU Council, said that the United States and Europe are closely coordinating their preparations for new sanctions against Russia.

Peskov stated that Europe and Ukraine do everything possible to bring the United States in their orbit.

Putin said that the Kremlin preferred to resolve the crisis diplomatically, but if this was not possible then he would continue with what he calls "special military operations".

The Russian war economy grew by 4.1% in both 2023 and 2024 despite the multiple rounds of Western sanction imposed following its invasion of Ukraine 2022. However, the economy has slowed sharply in this year due to high interest rates. (Reporting and writing by Anastasia Teterevleva, editing by Guy Faulconbridge).

(source: Reuters)