MOSCOW, July 22. /ITAR-TASS/. Some forces in Russia are interested in the country's isolation but the Russian business wants to invest in global markets, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin said on Tuesday.

Kudrin told ITAR-TASS that he was "surprised with the extent of anti-western rhetoric that has emerged" following the Ukrainian crisis.

“Things are different in business,” he said. “Businessmen want to work, to invest, build factories and develop trade. And businessmen are very concerned about what they hear on radio and TV.”

The socio-political landscape in the country had changed “fundamentally”, Kudrin said. “We have become the west’s adversary again,” he said.

“I do not share the anti-western rhetoric,” he said, adding that Russia’s stand-off with the west might affect the country’s economic and political modernisation.

These isolationist sentiments pushed the country’s leadership towards political decisions aimed “to restrict economic relations,” as wel as attempts “to restrict travels and communication,” he said.

Kudrin said he was worried the recent crisis would drive Russia into “a certain historic confrontation" hampering the country's development in all spheres.