Russian President Vladimir Putin. File photoMOSCOW, Aug 27Russia is using the expansion and strengthening of trade and military ties with Iran to counter Western sanctions pressure, writes The Wall Street Journal columnist Benoit Faucon. The desire of Western sanctions to isolate Russia from the rest of the world is pushing the Kremlin to expand areas for working with allies. The strengthening of trade and military ties between Russia and Iran is alarming in the United States, the author noted. Washington is confident that such cooperation will help mitigate the effects of sanctions — Moscow and Tehran get new markets. «In July, Iran became the world's largest buyer of Russian wheat. In the same month, Russia launched an Iranian satellite into space, which was a rare success for the space program Tehran,» Faucon wrote. In addition, he drew attention to joint exercises with drones. The author also pointed out the growth in trade between the two countries.Ex-president of the Czech Republic stood up for RussiaWestern countries imposed new sanctions against Moscow after the start of a special operation by the Russian army to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. So, Russian reserves were frozen in the amount of about 300 billion dollars. Calls to abandon Russian energy sources have also become louder. In addition, Western companies began to leave the domestic market. At the same time, the violation of supply chains led to economic problems in Europe and the United States, primarily to an increase in food and fuel prices. The Kremlin called the sanctions an economic war, the likes of which have never been seen before. The authorities stressed their readiness for such a development of events and assured that they would continue to fulfill social obligations. The Central Bank is taking measures to stabilize the situation on the foreign exchange market. The authorities also transferred payment for gas to unfriendly countries in rubles. In addition, the government has prepared a plan to counter the restrictions, which includes about a hundred initiatives. The volume of its funding will be about a trillion rubles.
