Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has condemned further sanctions imposed on Moscow and vowed a tough response.
The deputy chairman of Russia's security council, who was head of state between 2008 and 2012, reacted angrily to a new swathe of U.S. measures punishing Russia. They came on the second anniversary of its full-scale invasion and following the death in prison of opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
"We have become accustomed to their endless limitations and have learned to live with them," Medvedev wrote on Telegram after the Biden administration's announcement of sanctions for over 500 Russian targets.
Biden said on Friday that the sanctions would target those connected to Navalny's imprisonment, Russia's financial sector, defense industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders across the world. "They will ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home," the president added in a statement. Newsweek emailed the White House for comment on Saturday.
However, Medvedev said the bans "are no longer directed against the authorities or businesses in the country." He added that, regarding the West, "let them all suffer there. We all just need to remember this and take revenge on them where we can."
His post described creating ructions for the West economically and undermining its political system, without referring to the nuclear threats against Ukraine's allies that he has made numerous times recently.
"They are our enemies," Medvedev wrote, "carry out other activities on their territory that are not usually discussed publicly. War is war, and in this war, victory will be ours!"
Justin Logan is director of defense and foreign policy studies, at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C. He told Newsweek in a statement that the Biden administration is likely to achieve the goals of restricting Russian exports and gaining revenues from energy products with the sanctions.
"But even achieving those goals is very unlikely to contribute to the strategic end the administration seeks, which is a Russian defeat in Ukraine," Logan said.
"Economic coercion usually fails without a high level of global compliance with the effort, and unless the target state sees the costs it is paying as being worse than giving up on its goal," he added.
"Unless the administration engages on the central issue—Ukraine's strategic orientation and U.S. support for its membership in NATO—it will be left counterpunching with tactical measures that cannot force Russia to end the war on Ukraine's terms."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
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