OREANDA-NEWS. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that initially he had anxiety about sanctions imposed by the USA, but later he realized that Washington “punished themselves.”

“You know, I’ll tell you honestly and I can already tell you frankly and publicly. After the first steps concerning this sanctions list were made, I had a certain anxiety,” he said.

The politician noted that the question of sanctions should be asked to the US authorities. He added that Washington’s measures forced Moscow to engage in import substitution in industries related to national interests and state security. Putin stated that in general Russia has achieved serious positive results in this area.

According to the president, as for increasing economic and technological sovereignty, sanctions have benefited Russia, but there are also disadvantages which amount billions of dollars. “…For Europe, as I know, according to the Europeans, they have calculated the losses of around 50 billion... By the way, ours are much less,” he said.

Putin mentioned that about 400 companies and 300 individuals were affected by US restrictions. He recalled the prohibition for American companies to work on the sea shelf, despite the investments were made. “Who was punished? They punished themselves, they shot their own leg,” the politician said.

Speaking about how Moscow is going to defend its interests in relations with Washington, Putin noted that the two countries have many common interests. “The United States is a great nation, we have always been respectful of the United States and now we are. We were allies in world wars twice, all this is our common history, and this history is positive,” the president said and added that Russia wants to cooperate in the technological sphere and in the economy as a whole.