MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. The West’s failed attempt to contain Russia’s development is the major outcome of 2018, when the sanctions pressure against Moscow reached its peak, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s (upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev told TASS.

"I sincerely believe that the outgoing year’s key outcome is the failure by the West to stifle Russia’s development. Undoubtedly, 2018 turned out to be the pinnacle year in sanctions pressure on our country. This situation had been building up throughout all the previous years. But I would like to believe that this peak is behind us due to the simple reason that our Western opponents’ steps against Russia have failed to yield any result," Kosachev said.

According to the senator, the West’s goal was to throw up roadblocks in order to hinder Russia’s economic and social development. Despite these efforts, Russia continues to progressively develop and is showing positive results in a wide range of areas, he noted.

Another goal of turning up this amount of heat on Russia was an attempt to spark resentment in society, whip up protests, and distance the authorities from its citizens. "However, this certainly did not happen. "The outstanding results of Russian presidential election this March are a strong response to those schemes and designs, which were part of the sanctions pressure policy against Russia," Kosachev stressed.

Russia defends peace and collective security

Despite all these efforts, Russia has not changed its strategic policy on the international arena. "We are still defending the values and interests of collective peace, security and cooperation taking into account the interests of all parties of this cooperation," Kosachev said. Moscow is not seeking to challenge the US, which is pretending to have global leadership, he stressed.

Moscow understands that the world will be stable and secure provided that it is multipolar and equally takes into account the rights and legal interests of all participants of international cooperation. "I hope that in this context, 2019 will be successful because right now in the outgoing year serious flaws are seen in the West’s attitude to solving many problems," he emphasized.

The senator pointed to one key instance: Washington’s move to dismantle the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program, which did not find support. Kosachev hopes that Washington’s attempt to destroy the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) won’t be backed, noting that there are signs of discontent by these steps from many US allies in NATO.

"In the end, I hope that sooner or later the Americans’ actions, which are guided by their own rather than collective interests, will leave them in isolation and they won’t get the total support of (their) allies like in the previous years and decades. This is what I expect in 2019," he stressed.