Western sanctions will not make Russia change course, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
“The US are fans of sanctions, and the adherence to this practice has spread on to Europe. They probably believe they can persuade us to change our position by means of sanctions. Evidently, this is impossible,” Peskov told reporters.
He also said that the call by the French finance minister Bruno Le Maire on Monday for a full economic war on Russia did not change the situation.
“This is not the first such statement. And yes, the aggressive action against our country are of an ultra-concentrated nature now. But these actions have taken place before, too,” Peskov added.
Peskov said it was too early to evaluate the military operation, which the Kremlin refuses to call “war,” and did not give any figures for Russian casualties.
Despite reports by the UN of casualties among civilians, Peskov said Russia was not to blame.
“Russian troops are not attacking civil infrastructure or population as part of the special operation. It’s ruled out. We are only talking about demilitarisation of Ukraine, about military objects. In many cases, fire comes from the nationalist groups that use civilian objects as a shield,” he said.
Russian and Ukrainian military claims cannot be independently verified.
He added that the Kremlin continued to recognise Volodymyr Zelensky as the president of Ukraine, and would not interfere with future presidential elections.
“The Kremlin has nothing to do with elections in Ukraine. The Kremlin cannot participate in Ukrainian elections. It’s a different country,” he said when asked about the political situation after the special operation was over.