MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/. Sanctions are harmful for everyone including for those who introduce them, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a state of the nation address on Thursday.

“Of course, sanctions are harmful, but they are harmful for everyone, including for those who initiate them,” Putin stressed.

The Russian leader is sure that the sanctions are not just a “nervous reaction of the United States and its allies” to Russia’s behavior in connection with events in Ukraine and not due to “the Crimean spring.”

“I am sure that if all this had not happened, another reason would have been invented to contain Russia’s growing possibilities and to influence it, or better to use it in own interests,” Putin said.