Answers to media questions

Question: Yesterday, we heard yet another statement by the US President regarding him either meeting with you or not meeting with you, and the Ukraine crisis, too. Almost at the same time, the United States imposed sanctions on Russian oil companies.

Today, the EU imposed another round of anti-Russia sanctions, this time placing a ban on toilet bowls, motorised toys, puzzles, and tricycles.

What do you think about this?

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: The fact that they cancelled imports of our toilet bowls will cost them dearly. I think they will need them if they keep the same policies with regard to the Russian Federation.

What can I say about the US President's statement? In the most recent telephone conversation, the idea of a meeting and the venue were proposed by the American side. I agreed with the idea and expressed my views in this regard pointing out that, without a doubt, such meetings must be well prepared. It would be a mistake for me and the US President to approach it lightly and come out from this meeting without achieving the anticipated result.

Admittedly, the US President agreed with that completely and said that a number of officials from the current administration would work on preparing this meeting. He named some of them, and I said that once the American side finalises the list of those who will be preparing the meeting, we will also announce who will be involved from the Russian side. But at the initial stage, without a doubt, the first steps towards this end should be taken by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rubio. That is what we decided.

Now I see - I have read the statement - that the US President decided to cancel or rather to postpone this meeting. What can I say? Dialogue is always better than confrontation, disputes, or, even more so, war. Therefore, we have always supported dialogue, and we continue to do so.

Now, regarding the new sanctions. First, there is nothing new about them. Clearly, they will have serious implications for us, but they will not significantly affect our economic well-being.

It is well known that during his first presidential term, President Trump imposed the largest number of sanctions ever imposed on the Russian Federation. Today, they have two aspects, namely, political and economic.

What are we talking about in terms of the political aspect? It implies an attempt to put pressure on Russia. But no self-respecting country and no self-respecting people ever make decisions under pressure. Without a doubt, Russia has the privilege of considering itself among those self-respecting countries and peoples. That is the first point.

The second point is purely economic.

Speaking of the political aspect this, of course, represents an unfriendly step with regard to Russia. That much is clear, and it does not help strengthen Russia-US relations, which have just begun to recover. Of course, actions like this by the US administration harm Russia-US relations.

To be continued