Putin admits Western sanctions hit hard
Vladimir Putin (photo: Getty Images)
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has begun publicly complaining about Western sanctions against Russia, cynically calling them "stupidity," according to the Facebook page of the Russian Embassy in the US.
The head of the Kremlin falsely claimed that he is committed to creating favorable conditions for European companies that continue to operate in Russia following the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine. He made these remarks in an interview with propagandist Pavel Zarubin.
According to Putin, Russia allegedly has "many friends in Europe," but some were forced to cease operations in the Russian market.
The Russian president claimed that when some companies had left under pressure from Western European governments, their friends from those countries had been almost in tears. He added that some companies continued to operate and that they were trying to create favorable conditions for them.
Against this backdrop, he complained about Western sanctions, effectively admitting they have become a painful blow to the aggressor state.
Putin publicly began to lament that, supposedly, "banning everything from Russia is stupidity."
Importantly, these new cynical statements by the head of the Kremlin came amid the transfer of assets of several foreign companies to temporary management in Russia.
In September, a relevant decree by Putin concerned the assets of the Swiss company Nestlé, the American packaging manufacturer Aptar, the German hypermarket chain Metro, the French retailer Auchan, the logistics company FM Logistic, and "Lemana Pro," which previously operated under the Leroy Merlin brand.
The Kremlin explained this step by stating that the mentioned companies are linked to so-called "unfriendly" countries. They claimed that these states are currently most actively involved in military actions against Russia, including inflicting strikes on economic infrastructure facilities.
In mid-October, the Russian assets of the French company Tarkett, one of the world's leading manufacturers of flooring, also came under temporary management of Russia.
Incidentally, Putin recently issued another portion of fantasies about Ukraine and Russia.
The head of the Kremlin unexpectedly announced his readiness to resume peace negotiations with Kyiv.
