Friday marked the milestone since the start of the Ukraine war, and Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman, Dmitry Medvedev, used the opportunity to criticise the international sanctions levelled at Moscow over the invasion. He stressed the world should not wait for the biblical horsemen heralded in the Book of Revelation, which some believe “are already on their way”, to open a “dialogue” with Moscow over sanctions.
Medvedev insisted the Kremlin had never closed down communication with the rest of the world over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He listed a number of consequences of the sanctions from Moscow’s point of view, adding his thoughts were not predictions but “things that have already happened”.
He continued: “One can have different attitudes to it, one can believe that the horsemen of the Apocalypse are already on their way and all hope is in Almighty God.
“However, one can still try to tone down this international situation.”
He reiterated that Russia “has never shut itself off from international communication”, and that it would be open to discussion with the likes of the UK and the US over the measures.
In the early days of the invasion, Vladimir Putin called sanctions imposed by the West “akin to a declaration of war”.
He then said: “But thank God it has not come to that.”
Western countries have slapped Moscow with a host of sanctions since the Kremlin launched its invasion on February 24.
READ MORE: China to ‘block the flow of global trade’ with island ‘militarisation’
The EU announced its sixth sanctions package on Friday, which it called the “most visible, direct and powerful responses to Russia’s brutal and unprovoked attack on Ukraine, including systemic violence and atrocities against the civilian population”.
They called the new sanctions package “unprecedented” and “designed to further increase economic pressure on Russia and undermine its ability to wage its war on Ukraine”.
The EU package “contains a complete import ban on all Russian seaborne crude oil and petroleum products”, which covers all but 10 percent of the block’s current oil imports.
However, the ban will allow EU member states “certain transition periods” and a “temporary exemption for pipeline crude oil”, after the ban was repeatedly blocked by a number of countries led by Hungary.
DON’T MISS:
Ukraine Live: Russian forces betray Putin as troops refuse to fight [LIVE]
Brexit POLL: Should UK rejoin EU single market? [VOTE]
Sturgeon treated like ROYALTY at Jubilee thanksgiving service [REPORT]
This comes as the Marriott hotel chain said the Western sanctions have made it “impossible” to keep operating in Russia.
Marriott said it had “come to the view that newly announced US, UK and EU restrictions will make it impossible for Marriott to continue to operate or franchise hotels in the Russian market”.
It added: “We continue to join our associates and millions of people around the world in wishing for an end to the current violence and the start of a path towards peace.”
But sanctions have not just been levelled at swathes of the Russian economy, but also at Putin’s “shady network”.
The UK Foreign Office said that travel bans and asset freezes would apply to a collection of the Russian leader’s family members.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the sanctions were part of “exposing and targeting the shady network propping up Putin’s luxury lifestyle and tightening the vice on his inner circle”.
She added: “We will keep going with sanctions on all those aiding and abetting Putin’s aggression until Ukraine prevails.”