Kremlin says sanctions will never force Russia to change course
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia's preference was to resolve the conflict through diplomatic means.
PHOTO: AFP
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MOSCOW – The Kremlin said on Sept 8 that no sanctions would ever force Russia to change course in the Ukraine war, hours after the US and the European Union indicated they were considering additional economic restrictions.
The West has imposed tens of thousands of sanctions on Russia over its 3½-year-old war in Ukraine and its 2014 annexation of Crimea in a bid to hobble Russia’s US$2.2 trillion (S$2.82 trillion) economy and undermine support for President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Putin says the Russian economy, which has grown faster than those of Group of Seven 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,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Kremlin reporter Alexander Yunashev.
US President Donald Trump said on Sept 7 he is ready to move to a second phase of sanctioning Russia
European Council president Antonio Costa said new EU sanctions were being closely coordinated with the US.
Russia controls one-fifth of Ukraine and launched its largest air attack of the war over the weekend, setting the main government building in Kyiv on fire and killing at least four people, Ukrainian officials said.
Moscow said it had used aircraft, drones, missiles and artillery to strike armaments factories, airfields, arsenals and transport infrastructure used by the army.
Trump ‘ready for more sanctions on Russia’
On Sept 5, Mr Trump said he would get the war settled “or there’ll be hell to pay”, and on Sept 7, when asked by a reporter at the White House if he was ready to move to “the second phase” of sanctions against Russia, he responded: “Yeah, I am.”
He did not elaborate, but oil prices climbed more than US$1 on Sept 8.
Mr Peskov, who also serves as a Kremlin deputy chief of staff, said Western sanctions had “turned out to be absolutely useless in terms of exerting pressure on Russia”.
He said Moscow preferred to achieve its goals through political and diplomatic methods but, as Europe and Kyiv did not want to engage, it would press on with what Mr Putin calls the “special military operation”.
European powers and Ukraine say they do not think Mr Putin is serious about peace and that the world must do everything to prevent Moscow from winning the war.
Russia’s war economy grew at 4.1 per cent in 2023 and 4.3 per cent in 2024, but growth is slowing sharply in 2025 under the weight of high interest rates.
Sberbank chief executive German Gref, one of Russia’s most powerful bankers, said on Sept 4 that the economy was stagnating and would fall into recession unless interest rates were slashed, while a report from the central bank suggested it was already technically in recession. REUTERS
