Russia: It’s Too Late for Sanctions to Hurt Us

Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a joint press conference with Kazakhstan's Presi
MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russia is not worried about U.S. and European sanctions as punishment for invading Ukraine because Russia long ago gamed out every possible sanctions move and fortified its economy to withstand them.

“The emotional reaction of the markets and in the financial sector was predicted. All necessary measures have been taken to ensure this period is over as quickly as possible,” Peskov said at a press conference.

The Kremlin spokesman scoffed at the notion of Western diplomatic and economic sanctions isolating Russia from the rest of the world in retaliation for invading Ukraine.

“It’s simply impossible to cut off a country like Russia with an iron curtain,” Peskov said, referring to the famed Iron Curtain metaphor for the Cold War.

“Of course, we may have problems with a number of states, but we had problems with these states even before that,” he said.

Peskov repeated leader Vladimir Putin’s weird statement that “demilitarization and de-Nazification” are Russia’s goals, and insisted conquering Ukraine is not an objective – unless the Ukrainians make that necessary by resisting too vigorously.

“Ideally, Ukraine needs to be liberated and cleansed of Nazis,” he said. President Volodymyr Zelensky is the first Jewish leader of Ukraine, a fact never taken into account in Russia’s “Nazi” smears.

“No one is talking about occupation. Such wording is unacceptable. We only pursue the goals set out by the president, the rest is a question of choice by the Ukrainian people,” Peskov said.

The Kremlin mouthpiece insisted a “solid majority” of the Russian public supports Putin’s decision to unilaterally carve two “independent republics” out of Ukrainian soil and then invade Ukraine to “protect” them.

“The situation is very disturbing, it is a very very difficult question, but as the president explained in his address, it is dictated by our national interests, the concern over the future of our country. Only these goals and no others,” he said.

Peskov announced that Putin would meet with Russian business leaders on Thursday – “representatives of the largest enterprises, organizations, and companies, in various sectors of the economy” – to discuss responses to Western sanctions.

Responding to a reporter’s question, Peskov said the Kremlin had a “negative” response to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s suggestion that sanctions could be leveled directly at Putin and other top Russian officials.

The Russian rouble hit a record low on Thursday after the Russian attack began, rebounding somewhat in morning trades after the Russian central bank announced it would support the rouble with foreign currency interventions – a measure last taken to stabilize the Russian economy after it annexed Crimea in 2014.

“War or no war, tensions between the West and Russia are to remain high for longer, putting the rouble under pressure,” Stephanie Kennedy of Economic Research at Julius Baer told Reuters on Thursday morning.

A note from BCS Global Markets to its clients warned “the risk of wider and more serious sanctions looms large,” so “a modicum of panic and a potential compliance-driven sell-off” are “not unlikely.”

Russia’s prized Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany has been put on hold by the German government, and the United States is leveling sanctions against construction companies affiliated with the project, adding further uncertainty to Russian and worldwide energy markets. On Thursday, two lobbying firms representing Nord Stream 2 terminated their contracts.

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