MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia has built up a certain immunity to Western sanctions and adapted to them, the Kremlin said on Friday, after the European Union agreed an 18th package of sanctions against Moscow, including measures aimed at its oil industry.
The package aims to lower the G7’s price cap for buying Russian crude oil to $47.6 per barrel, diplomats told Reuters.
Asked about the new EU measures, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described them as one-sided and illegal, saying they were in line with what he called Europe’s “consistently anti-Russian stance.”
“But at the same time, of course, we have already acquired a certain immunity from sanctions, we have adapted to life under sanctions,” Peskov told reporters.
“Of course, we will have to analyse the new package in order to minimise its consequences. But, in addition, each new sanctions package brings a negative effect for the countries that back it. This is a double-edged weapon,” Peskov said.
Russian government and trading sources played down the impact of the new restrictions, doubting they would significantly disrupt Russian oil trade.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Gleb Bryanski/Andrew Osborn)
