MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. Russia has not yet imposed its response measures to the Western sanction but people in the West already see what their countries’ anti-Russian sanctions are entailing, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.
"They (people in the West - TASS) know why they have such prices on energy sources. They know what is going on in various sectors of their economies and they understand that their leaders, who opted for this choice, have triggered corresponding processes in their own countries and must understand that," she said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel. "I would like to note once again: Russia has not yet imposed response measures."
In her words, people in the West are asking their leaders about what is going on. "But the only thing they hear is lies from White House and Department of State briefing, from Brussels and London. They don’t believe them," she added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 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.
Following this step, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and several other countries announced sanctions against Russia individuals and legal entities.