ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov said on Friday, he was confident that the anti-russia sanctions would remain in force this year.
"I don't believe privately that the sanctions will be lifted this year, they will stay. Now there are more and more speculations about when the sanctions will be lifted because it's obvious to everybody that they don't work. And the more the sanctions stand, the more obvious is the plain fact that Russia easily survives them, that our Central Bank and macroeconomic policy work and inflation goes down, investments go in," Ivanov rold reporters.
Western countries have imposed sanctions targeting Russia's banking, energy and defense sectors after Crimea's reunification with Russia.
