Russian businessman Vladimir Potanin said that the mandate of the Russian president is more powerful than that of any politician in the West.
"We can’t break off relations with Europe and America. And they can’t break off relations with us either. If we can’t be friends, we'll have to build some relations anyway. I'm confident that even our generation will live in a completely different system of contacts with the outside world, much more comfortable," TASS cited him as saying.
"And now we will clench our teeth and wait as long as necessary. Or do you think that this conflict is so enjoyable to the West? Our counteractions are not comparable to the sanctions imposed against Russia, however, the Westerners are squalling even louder than we are. Their pain threshold is lower than ours, they are not used to inconveniences and discomfort. In this sense, they are not competitors to us. We can endure it longer than they can," he said.
"In situations of standoff, the winner is the one who is ready to endure pain longer, who has a stronger and more trusted leader. The mandate of our president is more powerful than the mandate of any politician in the West. For this reason I look into the future with cautious optimism. We have time and we know how to be patient, while among our opponents we hear mainly loud cries and groundless hopes that we will break down under the pressure of sanctions. This is definitely not going to happen," Potanin noted.
