SOCHI. Oct 27 (Interfax) - Not a single decision that Russia would ever make would be made under the pressure of sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"Nobody makes any decisions under the pressure of sanctions, not even small countries. And such a country as Russia will certainly not do anything that those of our partners trying to press on Russia would like it to do," Putin said at the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi on Friday.
"This is absolutely counterproductive and doesn't lead to the resolution of the problem," he said.
Taking questions from forum participants, Putin said it was not for him to judge whether the decisions on imposing sanctions on Russia had been forced on the European countries.
"As for the sanctions, whether they have been forced or not, it's not for me to judge about this. But the U.S. vice president said recently that they had to seriously press on their European partners to make them use the sanctions. It's he who said this, not me. Well, it means they pressed after all," Putin said.
The Russian leader said he was sure the Europeans do not need these sanctions.