Russia too big to be isolated, Europe, US acting like bandits-Kremlin

The Kremlin on Saturday hit out at Western nations for slapping crippling sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine and said they were acting like bandits.  Russia was far too big to be isolated as the world was much larger than just the United States and Europe. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the West was engaged in "economic banditry" against Russia and that Moscow would respond. He did not specify what response there would be but said it would be in line with Russian interests. "This does not mean Russia is isolated," Peskov told reporters. "The world is too big for Europe and America to isolate a country, and even more so a country as big as Russia. There are many more countries in the world." Peskov said that if the United States imposed sanctions on Russia's energy exports then it would give a considerable jolt to energy markets.Peskov also expressed hope that the EU and NATO countries that "were overreacting and refusing to see many obvious things" would sooner or later understand Russia’s position.

The Kremlin also defended Russia's new legislation that could see people jailed for up to 15 years for publishing "fake news" about its military, saying the country was facing "an information war". The newly passed law gives Moscow much stronger powers to crack down on independent journalism, prompting the BBC, Bloomberg, and other foreign media to suspend reporting in the country. The country also blocked Facebook and some other websites on Friday as part of the crackdown. "The law was necessary and needed urgently because of the unprecedented -- not even campaign -- but information war that has been unleashed against our country," Peskov was quoted as telling Reuters. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine entered the 10th day on Saturday,