Mishustin said that the West is strengthening sanctions against Russia and Belarus

Western countries are stepping up sanctions pressure on Russia and Belarus, and at the same time they themselves feel the negative consequences of these measures. This statement was made by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council. Meeting transcript published on the website of the Russian government.

“The collective West is increasing sanctions pressure on Russia and Belarus, despite the fact that its initiators themselves have already felt the negative impact of such a policy,” Mishustin said.

In his opinion, the global food crisis was a “direct consequence” of the actions of Western states. He also pointed to the changing economic situation. According to the prime minister, the international economic and trade system is being shaken, in addition, “usual ties and ways of life” are being disrupted.

At the same time, Mishustin noted the effectiveness of the EAEU. As an example, he cited the volume of the EAEU GDP, which increased by more than 3.5% in the first quarter of 2022. He also announced an increase in agricultural production in the first half of the year and an increase in the output of industrial goods by almost 2%. Mishustin added that the share of mutual settlements between EAEU members in national currencies has reached 75%.

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, Western countries imposed large-scale sanctions against Russia. Many sectors of the economy fell under the restrictions, including energy, the high-tech sector, aviation, the banking industry, the mining industry, the automotive industry, etc. In Europe, it was stated that the purpose of the sanctions, among other things, is to weaken the Russian economy.

The day before, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that despite the restrictions, Russia’s oil and gas and non-oil and gas revenues are growing. He reported that the latter figure increased by 24%.

The sanctions also affected Belarus, which, after the start of the special operation, the West began to accuse of participating in the conflict. Despite the fact that the authorities of the country have repeatedly denied this information, restrictive measures have been introduced against a number of individuals and legal entities in Belarus. In particular, the Belinvestbank and Dabrabyt banks fell under the sanctions.

At the same time, restrictive measures against Russia had a negative impact on the economies of foreign countries. For example, Europe is facing an energy crisis, and food prices are rising in Western countries. However, the West is not going to abandon the sanctions. Moreover, several EU countries support the abolition of the issuance of tourist visas for Russians. According to the calculations of the speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, Europe could lose 21 billion euros if it bans tourists from Russia from entering.

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