Putin: West Seeks More Pretexts for Russian Sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that the West will continue looking for new pretexts to impose sanctions on Russia in the near term.

"The collective West is not going to drop its policy of economic pressure on Russia. Moreover, it will of course always be looking for more pretexts for sanctions; yes, pretexts. So, it's not worth counting on a change to these approaches to occur any time soon," Putin told a meeting on the development of air transportation and aircraft production on Thursday.

"I, therefore, ask the government, the Bank of Russia, and the constituent parts of our federation, when planning the systemic work of developing the economy, and its specific sectors, to go by [the fact] that our country will remain under the pressure of sanctions just as it has been in previous decades," he added.

Moreover, the president pointed out that Russia has been targeted by illegal sanctions and restrictions whose "aim is to check Russia's development, to undermine our sovereignty, and to weaken our potential in production, finance and technology."

"I repeat: all these sanctions had been in the making, and they would have been imposed anyway. I want to stress that," Putin stressed.

"Essentially, these are sanctions for our right to freedom, our right to be independent, and our right to be Russia. For our not wanting to dance to someone else's tune, to sacrifice our national interests and traditional values."