OREANDA-NEWS. Russia has developed a high resistance to sanctions that have been introduced by Western countries since 2014. This was stated by the member of the European Parliament from Germany, Gunnar Beck, in an address to the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, reports on Tuesday, February 22, RT.

“Despite the restrictions of the West, after 2014, Russia seems to have developed a high resistance to sanctions,” Beck said.

He noted that the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Bank of Russia today amount to more than €540 billion, while the dollar accounts for only a sixth of them. The €166bn surplus revenue from oil and gas exports is hoarded in the National Welfare Fund, while Russia's public debt is only 20% of GDP. Thanks to foreign exchange reserves and low public debt, Beck believes, Russia will be able to overcome the international pressure that is being placed on its monetary and economic system - whether it be economic sanctions or various kinds of speculation from the West.

Against this background, Beck asked Borrell how he assesses the “efforts” of the Russian side to increase resistance to the imposed and planned sanctions in the event of an escalation of the situation around Ukraine.

The day before, Reuters, citing sources, reported that the US administration had prepared sanctions against Russia, prohibiting US banks from processing transactions for large Russian banks. Restrictions may be used against certain Russian individuals and companies. They will be blacklisted, which will exclude them from the US banking system. Prior to that, on February 16, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed that sanctions against Moscow in the event of an alleged invasion of Ukraine would have "global consequences." She added that the US Treasury and European countries are developing a series of financial sanctions that may affect "individuals or companies" and "certainly may include export controls."

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, during a conversation with reporters on February 21, emphasized that "not only today, not only the day before, but in Washington, constant work is underway to prepare new and new sanctions against Russia."