Putin: western sanctions were a silly and harmful decision

The western sanctions, imposed as a result of Crimea’s reunification with Russia, were a "silly and harmful decision," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the German daily Bild, adding that sanctions have a positive effect for Russia as well.

According to him, "the Russian people feel clearly with their hearts and minds what is going on at the moment." "Napoleon once said that justice is the image of God upon the Earth. The reunification of Crimea with Russia was a just decision," the head of state said. He said that the reaction of the Western partners to the reunification was "wrong and rather aimed at restraining the abilities of Russia’s further growth instead of supporting Ukraine."

"It seems to me that this is where the grand mistake lies, as, on the contrary, we must make use of mutual possibilities for the further growth, for mutual solution of the problems we are facing," TASS cited him as saying.

The President admitted that the sanctions have a negative impact on the Russian economy, in particular in the sphere of restrictions for the country and its companies to work on foreign financial markets.

"Speaking about the greatest damage inflicted by the current situation, it is the damage to our economy brought by the decline in prices for our traditional export goods," Putin said, referring to the sharp drop of crude prices over the last year and a half. 

"When oil prices are high it is very hard for us to refrain from spending oil profits on accrued expenses. Our oil and gas deficit hit a very dangerous level. We are now forced to lower it," the head of state said.

According to the president, to build constructive relations between states "we must respect each other, respect each other's interests and adhere to the same rules, but not to change them every time ".