'We Learnt to Live Under Pressure, Sanctions Will Fail' - Russian Deputy FM

© Sputnik / Alexei Filippov / Go to the mediabankA view at the Moscow Kremlin, Historical Museum, Red Square and Saint Basil's Cathedral.
A view at the Moscow Kremlin, Historical Museum, Red Square and Saint Basil's Cathedral. - Sputnik International
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Western sanctions against Russia are doomed to fail, as the country has learned to live under pressure, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In an interview with Rossiya-24 television channel, Sergei Ryabkov said:

"Sanctions and attempts to break us economically are doomed to fail. We have spent a year dealing with a new reality. It helps us, I am sure, to move towards import substitution, we are looking for alternative ways to cooperate."

Starting from the spring of 2014, the United States, the European Union and their allies imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s alleged role in the escalation of the internal Ukrainian crisis. Russian officials repeatedly referred to sanction language as counterproductive.

US and EU flags - Sputnik International
US, EU Concerned Over Russia's Import Substitution Program
Despite having some negative effect on the Russian economy, including the exchange rate of the Russian national currency, Western sanctions presented Moscow with opportunities to reinvent its economy and make it less import-dependent.

Moscow launched a large-scale import substitution program to replace Western imports and stepped up its cooperation with the BRICS and Latin American countries.

On Tuesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin noted that the change in the ruble’s exchange rate gives Russian business the opportunity to take on new niches, including at the international level.

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