Russian President #VladimirPutin said Friday that a sanctions "blitzkrieg" against #Moscow had never had any chance of succeeding.
Putin also said the EU could lose more than $400 billion due to the sanctions, which he said would rebound on those who had imposed them. He added that the EU's inflation rate is above 20%, compared to Russia's 16,6%.
The comments were made during the 2022 #SaintPetersburg International Economic Forum, which the Russian President hosted.
Putin also asserted that Russia's decision to launch what #Moscow calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine was difficult but needed.
FRANCE 24's former Moscow correspondent Nick Holdsworth gave us this perspective of Putin's speech: "He's blaming everything on the West – this is absolutely typical – he starts by talking about one of his favourite subjects, the end of the unipolar world, saying the US and the West announced victory in the Cold War but now they're suffering from their arrogance and trying to call the shots the last 30 years."