By RFE/RL
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on April 16 that Western sanctions are aimed at restraining Russia, asserting that Moscow's role in the crisis and conflict in Ukraine are only a pretext for the punitive measures imposed by the European Union, United States, and other nations.
Putin made the remarks in annual question-and-answer session shown live on state television.
He said the purpose of the sanctions is Russia's "containment" and predicted they would not be lifted soon.
The United States and EU say the sanctions are aimed to change the behavior of Russia, which Kyiv and Western nations say illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014 and has sent troops and weapons to eastern Ukraine to support separatists in a war that has killed more than 6,000 people since April 2014.
Putin claimed that Russia is abiding by the terms of a cease-fire deal and that the sanctions have nothing to do with the situation in Ukraine.
Putin said Russia should use the sanctions as a basis to for "new achievements" in the economy.
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