Russian prime minister says unprecedented Western sanctions target ordinary people

MOSCOW

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Thursday that despite opposite claims, Western sanctions against Moscow target ordinary people.

"At the very beginning, the West tried to assure us that the sanctions were not directed against our citizens. And then there were no illusions about this, but now even a person far from global politics understands that the main goal was the Russian people," Mishustin said in his address to Russia's lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma, in Moscow.

He said Moscow was hit by sanctions of unprecedented scale, and the West tried to collapse Russia's financial system by forcing its companies to leave the country and as a result provoke mass unemployment.

"Russia's opponents were unscrupulous in means. Blasted Nord Stream gas pipelines. Froze our accounts, switched off system of international payments, tried to block all banks and other economic activities," he said.

Despite declarations about inviolability, sanctity of private property, Western authorities ceased assets of Russian nationals and companies on their territories, he added.

However, the premier claimed, Russian economy withstood the blow and returned to growth.

Attempts to block Russia from the global market also failed, and Moscow will continue to strengthen cooperation with "friendly countries," Mishustin said.

He said he expects the pressure on Russia will continue, but the country will "soon adapt and transfer to a new path of development."

"Last year, a profound transformation of the world order began. More and more countries are realizing that a just world of the future is incompatible with the 'rules' imposed by the collective West. The movement towards multipolarity has accelerated. Russia is at the forefront of this process right now," he said.

According to his assessment, the world is witnessing "a tough strategic struggle" where every country fights "for the right to choose its own path, based on national interests for the benefit of its people."