Russia will increase trade, economic ties with Asia following Western sanctions.
By REUTERS
AN ICE floe drifts past the Kremlin in Moscow in winter.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Russia will impose retaliatory sanctions on Western nations on the basis of reciprocity, the Kremlin said on Friday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said sanctions would cause problems for Russia but they would be solvable, as it had reduced its dependence on foreign imports.
He declined to comment on how long Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the sanctions, would last and said questions about Ukrainian civilian deaths should be referred to the military.
Russia’s economy ministry said it was working on measures to minimize the effect of Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and would be stepping up trade and economic ties with Asian countries.
“We understand that the sanctions pressure we have faced since 2014 will now intensify,” the ministry said. “The rhetoric of some of our foreign colleagues was such that we have been ready for potential new sanctions for a long time.”