NOVO-OGARYOVO, December 15. /TASS/. Western countries have declared economic war against Russia, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
"The collective West has descended on us [Russia] with an economic war," Putin said addressing a meeting of the Strategic Development and National Projects Council.
President Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics for assistance he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine.
In response to Russia’s decision, the West began to impose numerous large-scale sanctions on Russia stage by stage. Along with this move, Western countries began to supply weapons and military equipment worth billions of US dollars to the Kiev regime.
The European Union slammed Russia with numerous packages of sanctions and the draft of the ninth package of anti-Russian restrictions was presented last week by the European Commission. It included personal sanctions against 200 individuals and legal entities, three Russian banks and four TV channels, and restrictions on the export of dual-use goods to Russia.
The package was also set to include the much-disputed price cap on Russian oil. However, EU energy ministers failed to agree on the maximum price for Russian gas.
Reuters news agency reported earlier in the day, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources, that EU countries had failed to agree on the ninth package of anti-Russia sanctions. Poland and a number of other countries still had objections, according to diplomats.
EU member states are expected to receive an updated draft of the next package of sanctions later on Thursday. Diplomats say some countries believe that the EU's restrictive measures pose a threat to the food security of developing countries, while others argue that easing restrictions could allow Russian entrepreneurs who own fertilizer companies to evade European sanctions.