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Authors of anti-Russian sanctions should leave political arena, Duma speaker says

Vyacheslav Volodin noted that it became obvious sanctions were costly for the Western economies and Russia had only become stronger
Chairman of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS
Chairman of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin
© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. The authors of the anti-Russian sanctions, who introduced "draconian measures" and rewriting international rules, should leave the political arena, Chairman of the Russian State Duma (lower house) Vyacheslav Volodin stated on Tuesday.

"Colleagues, let’s take a stand in our dialogue with the national parliaments and say unequivocally: those who invented sanctions, erasing the international and WTO requirements, who introduced draconian measures which absolutely do not develop relations between countries, should leave the political arena," Volodin said.

He noted that "the authors of these sanctions are known," therefore it would be correct for "colleagues from foreign parliaments to assess these figures." In addition, it will be right to convey the Duma’s point of view "to countries’ parliaments - NATO members, proposing them to stop the rhetoric of sanctions and intimidation of Russia."

"Pay attention - firstly sanctions forced us to engage in import substitution, and now we hear complaints: on what basis are we are doing this? Today they counted who lost and how much. It turned out they were at a big loss. It became obvious that this path is costly for their economies," the Duma speaker continued.

"Having overcome the challenges, Russia has only become stronger. Washington needs to reconsider its foreign policy doctrine, [and] stop the threats. It will do nothing except complicate relations. Russia’s development cannot be halted," Volodin concluded.