Russia Has Withstood ‘Economic Blitzkrieg,’ Citizens Must Prepare for Inflation and Unemployment: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via teleconference call at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia on March 3, 2022. (Andrey Gorshkov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

President Vladimir Putin is claiming that Russia has survived widespread international economic sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but he admitted that the country will see rising inflation and unemployment in the future.

Putin defended the military action in a televised government meeting March 16 and called on Russian citizens to “mobilize” to face the economic consequences,” The Moscow Times reported.

“Yes, it is not easy for us now. But this economic blitzkrieg against Russia has failed,” Putin said. “The current situation is, of course, a test. I am sure that we will pass it with dignity and hard work. We will overcome these difficulties.”

The Russian president announced that social payments will be increased in the near future and that the country has “necessary resources” to solve long-term tasks. He also promised “maximum entrepreneurial freedom,” instructing officials to remove “administrative barriers.”

Citizens must prepare for a temporary increase in inflation and unemployment, he added. Inflation has been furiously rising, increasing by 2.1 percent the week of March 5–11 after a spike of 2.2 percent during the previous week. This is the second-highest weekly inflation in over 20 years, according to The Moscow Times.

After Russia’s invasion, multiple nations—especially from the West—imposed stringent sanctions against Moscow in order to pressure the country to withdraw its troops from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The Russian ruble has declined massively against the U.S. dollar, and the Moscow Exchange remained closed for the third week in a row, as of March 17, to prevent any substantial crash in stock prices.

Russia’s central bank is buying gold at a faster pace, and the bank has more than doubled its base interest rate to 20 percent, up from 9.5 percent, since the start of the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has even threatened foreign companies that it would nationalize and seize assets if they decide to exit the country.

Insisting that the West has “dropped its mask of civility,” Putin compared Western sanctions to the anti-Semitic violence of Nazis. The West is trying to divide Russian society, but Russian people will always be able to identify those who are “true patriots” and those who are “traitors,” Putin stated.

Claiming that Russia’s ongoing military action in Ukraine is a success, Putin said that he will not allow Kyiv to be used as a “springboard” for “aggressive actions” against Moscow.

“Behind the hypocritical talk and today’s actions of the so-called collective West are hostile geopolitical goals. They just don’t want a strong and sovereign Russia,” Putin said. “The West doesn’t even bother to hide that their aim is to damage the entire Russian economy, every Russian.”

President Joe Biden has justified U.S. sanctions against Russia, stating that Putin “must pay the price” for attacking Ukraine. “He cannot pursue a war that threatens the very foundations of international peace and stability, and then ask for financial help from the international community,” Biden said.

The United States slapped sanctions against Russian banks as well as oligarchs and officials from the country. Washington is blocking imports of Russian seafood, diamonds, and vodka while global companies and organizations exit the Russian economy en masse as a retaliatory response to Moscow’s incursion.