West ‘struggling’ with sanctions – Kremlin

Russia has managed to turn the tables on the West when it comes to sanctions placed on Moscow, the Kremlin said on Saturday, arguing that a myriad of restrictions failed to crash the Russian economy.

“The Westerners are struggling because they are seeing that the sanctions are not hitting [us] as they were supposed to,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told broadcaster VGTRK.

“Moreover, as always, the 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 the “are no lengths they would not go” just to hurt Russia.

The US and many of its allies have imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow in response to its military operation in Ukraine, targeting Russia’s financial and energy sectors, among other spheres. However, the Western officials have repeatedly admitted that the negative impact of the penalties on Russia has not been as significant as expected.

Nevertheless, the EU is currently working on the 12th round of sanctions, which RFE/RL described on Friday as “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 also were “stimulating development.” Russian officials have said that foreign restrictions have ultimately failed to tank the country’s economy, instead providing an opportunity to boost domestic production and reroute existing trade.

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