Western nations wanted to destroy the Russian economy with sanctions, some of which are in essence nothing short of outright piracy, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Thursday, as he was delivering his yearly government performance report to the parliament.
“Unfriendly nations found no better way than to return to the typical pirate practice, if we call a spade a spade. By freezing our assets, they de facto robbed the country,” the prime minister said.
Mishustin was referring to the decision to freeze Russian foreign reserves denominated in dollars and euros, which amounted to about $300 billion.
Washington made it clear that its goal was to either drain Russia’s reserves of foreign currency that are not controlled by Western financial institutions in servicing its foreign debt or to go into default.
Russia reportedly paid interest on its debt in rubles this week. It also announced that it would require buyers of its natural gas to make payments to a Russian bank, which will then exchange the money into rubles at a Russian bourse.