WASHINGTON, March 19. /TASS/. US sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Moscow changes its political course, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a roundtable with journalists.

"Of course, the purpose of all of this is not to have these things [sanctions] in perpetuity. The purpose of the sanctions is to change their [Russia’s] conduct, along with everything else that we’re doing," he said.

The US top diplomat told the public to "be prepared for this to go on for some time," because the intended result will not be immediately achieved.

On February 24 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aims to demilitarize and denazify the country. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure.

The West retaliated to Russia’s decision by imposing massive new sanctions on the country, described by some western leaders as a de-facto economic war against Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the Western actions as "sort of a tax on independence" and said he was sure "the hysteria will blow over" and a solution will be found for the situation in Ukraine.