Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. File photoCHOLPON-ATA (Kyrgyzstan), Aug 26The West is stepping up sanctions pressure on Russia and Belarus, despite feeling the «negative returns» from restrictions on itself, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said. «The collective West is stepping up sanctions pressure on Russia and Belarus, despite the fact that the negative returns from its initiators have already felt such a policy,» he said at an expanded meeting of the EAEU intergovernmental council. According to the chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, the international economic and trade system is being shaken due to restrictions, «usual ties and deposits are being disrupted.» At the same time, according to the prime minister, the Eurasian Economic Union has proved its effectiveness. As Mishustin noted, in the first quarter of this year, the volume of the EAEU GDP increased by more than 3.5 percent, in the first half of the year there is an increase in agricultural production, the production of industrial goods, and during this period the unemployment rate in the community has decreased by a third.
Mishustin assessed the level of food self-sufficiency of the EAEU countries Mishustin added that the West is also trying to blame Russia for the global food crisis, «well aware that the current situation is a direct consequence of their actions.» After the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Western countries increased sanctions pressure on Moscow, which they resorted to after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Some of them have announced a freeze on Russian assets, calls have become louder in Europe to abandon Russian energy resources, the EU has already adopted seven packages of sanctions, including an embargo on coal and oil.According to Vladimir Putin, the policy of containing and weakening Russia is a long-term strategy West, and its main goal is to worsen the lives of millions of people. But, he is sure, Russia cannot be strictly isolated in the modern world, and current events draw a line under the global dominance of the West both in politics and in the economy. />Mishustin called cooperation with Minsk the best response to Western sanctions
