The Kremlin said Monday that sanctions would never force Russia to alter its approach in the Ukraine war, responding to news that the United States and European Union are considering further economic measures.
The West has imposed tens of thousands of sanctions on Russia over its 3-1/2-year war in Ukraine and its 2014 annexation of Crimea in a bid to hobble Russia's $2.2 trillion economy and undermine support for President Vladimir Putin.
Putin says the Russian economy, which has grown faster than those of G-7 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," Peskov told Kremlin reporter Alexander Yunashev.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he was ready to move to a second phase of sanctioning Russia, the closest he has come to suggesting he will tighten sanctions against Moscow or those who buy its oil.
