The Russian Foreign Minister has said the country is facing a ‘total war’ from the West that is trying to ‘destroy’ and ‘break’ Russia.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia ‘a real hybrid war, total war was declared on us’ following its invasion of Ukraine.
He went on to say the purpose of this was ‘to destroy, break, annihilate, strangle the Russian economy, and Russia on the whole’, the Associated Press reports.
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Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, numerous countries – including the UK and US – imposed sanctions on the country targeting its economy and financial system as well as oligarchs and associates of President Vladimir Putin.
But Lavrov went on to say that despite the attempt to ‘strangle’ Russia, it is not isolated.
He said: “We have many friends, allies, partners in the world, a huge number of associations in which Russia is working with countries of all continents, and we will continue to do so.”
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Lavrov also claimed that many states won’t place any sanctions on Russia. In response to the sanctions imposed on Russia, the country has followed suit.
Last week, the Kremlin announced it had placed sanctions on US President Joe Biden alongside several other US political figures.
The 'stop list' bars Biden and 12 others named on the list from entering Russia, the state-backed news agency TASS confirmed.
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As well as Biden, the sanctions were also placed on Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and CIA Director William Burns, as well as high profile non-elected figures including Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden.
After announcing the news, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that although the list includes several high-ranking White House officials, the country will maintain normal diplomatic relations with the US and would still contact those named on the list if necessary.
The Kremlin has long promised that it was preparing a 'strong response' to Western countries after unprecedented sanctions were placed on Russia.
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Claire Reid