Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin told TASS yesterday that Russia is ready to toughen its response, should Western sanctions intensify further. “We reserve the right to toughen our special measures if the pressure of sanctions intensifies,” the Russian diplomat warned. “We are ready for any scenario, even though we have been seeking to avoid the path of confrontation.”
Pankin specified: “We have been focusing on de-dollarization efforts, import substitution and work to strengthen our technological independence.… Against the growing geopolitical pressure from the ‘collective West,’ the only way to guarantee stable trade, economic, and investment ties between Russia and its partners is to avoid the use of currencies that have become ‘toxic,’ primarily the U.S. dollar and the euro, and switch to settlements in acceptable alternatives, primarily in national currencies,” Pankin said.
