MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. Russia will retaliate against sanctions from the United States and the European Union and will make decisions solely based on its own interests, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"Of course, we will follow up with retaliatory measures," Peskov said, adding that the severity of these measures will depend on the analysis of the situation.

"All these restrictions still need to be analyzed," he explained. "Of course, during this analysis, the main concern will be our own interests. That is, we will act solely based on our own interests," Peskov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.