MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/. Russia will cope with Western sanctions pressure, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Wednesday.

"Many people ask themselves the question: ‘Can we cope with such [sanctions] pressure?’ Yes, I am sure of this," he said.

According to Mishustin, a solid foundation has been laid for this, notably by Soviet scientists and innovators who achieved the majority of breakthroughs in the middle of the last century. He added that a unique method of training specialists at the time became the cornerstone for progress in all fields. "The Soviet model of education, by the way, is still one of the recognizable, as they say, world brands," he added.

Mishustin also noted that the West, which introduced more than a dozen packages of anti-Russian sanctions, was unable to destroy the Russian economy - there were difficulties, but they were overcome.

"The sanctions imposed by the collective West did not lead to the collapse of our economy, as they expected. Of course, there were noticeable difficulties, primarily in the second quarter of 2022. But since then, we have seen a confident recovery. The level at the beginning of last year has already been exceeded in many industries. For the most part, we have overcome the main difficulties," he said.

At the same time, he pointed out that for the EU, according to the forecast of the European Commission, the growth of gross domestic product this year is expected there at the level of 0.6%, which is almost five times lower than in Russia, and in Germany, Ireland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, and the Baltic countries, these figures are completely in the negative.