Kremlin: No Sanctions Can Force Russia To Change Direction Related To Ukraine War

The Kremlin says no sanctions will ever be able to force Russia to change courses related to Ukraine, just hours after the United States and the European Union indicated they were considering additional sanctions.

The West has imposed thousands of different sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine in 2022 and annexation of Crimea in 2014 in a bid to sink Russia's $2.2 trillion economy and undermine support for President Vladimir Putin.

Putin said the Russian economy, which has grown faster than the G7 countries and opposed Western predictions about the collapse, had defended well and he had ordered business people and officials to oppose the sanctions in any way they could.

"No sanction will be able to force the Russian Federation to change the consistent position that has been repeatedly expressed by our president," Peskov told Kremlin reporter Alexander Yunashev.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was ready to move to the second phase of sanctions against Russia, which is closest to signaling he would soon increase sanctions on Moscow or its oil buyers regarding the war in Ukraine.

"The preparation of new EU sanctions against Russia is being coordinated closely with the United States," EU Council President Antonio Costa said Monday.

Peskov said Europe and Ukraine were doing everything they could to pull the United States into their orbit.

He said the Kremlin's preference was to resolve the conflict through diplomatic channels, but if that was not possible, then Putin's so-called "special military operations" would continue.

Russia's war economy grew by 4.1% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2024, despite several rounds of Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, its economy has slowed sharply this year below the high interest rate expense.