MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax) - The 'Kremlin report' will not have the negative implications for Russia expected by its authors, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said.
"So many sanctions have been imposed on our country since 2014. Yet they have failed to alter the country's policy, weaken its sovereignty, and disconnect society. The additional sanctions against Russia will bolster public consolidation," the State Duma website quoted Volodin as saying on Tuesday.
The attempts at limiting Russia's sovereignty are futile, Volodin said. "The U.S. policy of sanctions has strengthened our potential. This is obvious to everyone. This is seen by our foreign partners. Our country has made colossal progress in the substitution of imports in the defense sector and its economy has started growing within a short period of time. Russia stood up to defend peace and forcefully deterred international terrorism," he said.
The sanctions imposed on Russia have long stopped being related to the official reasons indicated in the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, Volodin said.
"The policy of restrictions is the method the U.S. administration has been using to dictate its will on other countries so that they quit their independent course," he said.
Therefore, the stronger Russia gets, the more attempts at weakening it will be made, he said.
"This is another attempt of overseas colleagues to influence the Russian domestic policy," Volodin said. He believes that this course of U.S. actions harms common American citizens and U.S. allies in Europe.
"Additional restrictions imposed by the United States will do a lot of harm to the interests of European business," he said.