Russian PM describes Russian view on economic developments

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has described the Russian view on the latest economic developments at an international investment forum titled "Russia between Europe and Asia: regional economic policy in modern conditions." Medvedev noted that the problem started when the West started neglecting Russia's national interests.

In his words, putting pressure on Russia has always been useless. Medvedev reminded that Russia had great natural resources, nuclear weapons, a population of about 150 million people, large markets of goods, services and investments. Russia will not close its doors to foreign investments, he noted.

The PM explained that Russian counter-sanctions were a response, not vengeance. He reminded that new sanctions were passed against Russia a week ago. Medvedev compared the sanctions with the crisis in 2008. He added that Russia will use the situation to boost the food and pharmaceutical industries.