MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that no sanctions would ever force Russia to change course in the Ukraine war, hours after the United States and the European Union indicated they were considering additional economic restrictions.
The West has imposed tens of thousands of sanctions on Russia over its 3-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine in a bid to hobble Russia’s $2.2 trillion economy and undermine support for President Vladimir Putin.
Putin says the Russian economy, which has grown faster than those of G7 countries and defied Western predictions of a crash, not least thanks to spending on the war effort, has endured well. He has ordered businesses and officials to defy the sanctions in every way they can.
“No sanctions will be able to force the Russian Federation to change the consistent position that our president has repeatedly spoken about,” Peskov told Kremlin reporter Alexander Yunashev.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was ready to move to a second phase of sanctioning Russia, the closest he has come to suggesting he will tighten sanctions against Moscow or those who buy its oil.
EU Council President Antonio Costa said new European Union sanctions were being closely coordinated with the U.S.