EU, U.S. businesses “categorically” against Russian sanctions: Medvedev

PanARMENIAN.Net - European and U.S. businesses are “categorically” against Russian sanctions because they act against their commercial interests, but can’t say so freely, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said in an interview with CNBC, RT reported.

In September, a Moscow-based European business lobby group, the AEB, wrote a letter to EU and Russian governments asking for business ties to be kept functional.

“Businessmen from the U.S. are also opposed to the sanctions, but cannot come out in the open,” Medvedev continued.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued a similar statement, and said the European Union may face a €40 billion loss this year due to sanctions.

Medvedev went on to say that sanctions have never been constructive. “Let’s recall a little history. When sanctions were imposed on the Soviet Union in 1925, we could not pay with gold for various imported products but we survived somehow,” he said.

Medvedev gave the example of how sanctions were imposed on the USSR in 1948 after the allied victory in World War II. The economic sanctions lasted more than 50 years and restricted exports to the Soviet Union.

Throughout the Cold War era the U.S. imposed sanctions and embargoes against China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Iran. “Have sanctions on Iran produced any result? I don’t think they’ve had a serious impact. Sanctions on the People’s Republic of China were adopted after the political events of 1989. I believe China went on to substantially speed up economic development. It’s time to return to reality,” the Prime Minister said.

The Kremlin and White House tit-for-tat sanctions have been escalating since March, after Crimea was annexed to Russia.

The U.S. and EU have introduced several waves of sanctions against Russian politicians and businessmen, and some of their assets, as well as major banks, oil, and defense companies. The latest round came into effect on September 12.

In response, Russia introduced protective measures over food supplies on August 7. The Kremlin hasn’t announced any further countermeasures yet, but there have been reports it will block more imports from entering the country.