MOSCOW, March 28. /TASS/. The anti-Russian sanctions are meant to block Russia’s achievements and successes, to hamper its development, speaker of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house Vyacheslav Volodin said on Sunday.
"It is absolutely obvious that any our achievements and successes will be blocked, with sanctions and other instruments such as accusations, meddling with elections and many other things being used to stop Russia’s development," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
"All sanctions in the economy, claims in politics, accusations of the use of doping appear due to one simple reason: the country is developing," he noted. "Blows are delivered on everything that can boost our competitive edge. In those area where we are victorious, our rivals are sparing no effort to deprive us of the advantages of our victories. In all spheres."
As an example, he cited "achievements in the Russian economy" that are based on "the principles of fair competition." "But they (initiators of the anti-Russian sanctions - TASS) thwart all the rules of the World Trade Organization and are seeking to ban supplies of our cheap energy resources to Europe, offering their more expensive ones instead. This way they are seeking to contain economic development not only in Russia, but also in other countries," Volodin explained.
He also noted the situation around the novel coronavirus pandemic, which "should have consolidated the world before the global threat." "But, regrettably, it did not happen due to the United States again. Hundreds of thousands of people die in Europe and in other countries because they cannot get vaccinated and receive proper medical assistance. Supplies and production of the Russian vaccine in European countries are being blocked but they either don’t supply their vaccine or sell it at a high price in a bid to hold their monopoly on the pharmaceutical market," he stressed.
Another example, in his words, is the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships, where Russian "victorious athletes were deprived of the flag and anthem of their country."
"Naturally, no one wants to face double standards. We want common rules for all. But in a situation of unfair competition, the challenges Russia is facing make us stronger when we withstand them. And we have no other way in such a situation," he stressed.