Russia Deputy PM: Sanctions not good for anybody
Economic sanctions against Russia imposed by the E.U. and the U.S. are not good for the global economy, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told CNBC on Wednesday.
"Sanctions are not good from any side. Sanctions are not good for [the] U.S. economy, for Europe.... they face difficulties as Russia faces difficulties," Dvorkovich said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, China.
"The global economy is not in good shape even without sanctions, and the Russia economy is dealing with huge changes during the last few years," he added.
On Monday the E.U. formally adopted a package of fresh sanctions against Russia including restrictions on large Russian state-owned oil companies operating in Europe, but said they wouldn't be enforced yet, to give time to assess whether a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine - agreed on Friday - would hold.
Russia retaliated to western sanctions last month by banning food imports worth around $9 billion from the European Union, the U.S., Canada, Australia and Norway, in a move that has led to higher food prices for Russian people.
The deputy PM told CNBC his government views the situation in Ukraine as an "external crisis" but felt obligated to intervene because it occurred so close to Russia's borders.
"We cannot just watch what is happening without dealing with it. If [Ukraine's] economy is being destroyed, then we need to help," he said. "The key thing now is to stop the violence. The cease-fire was good news during the last [few] days in Ukraine."
Dvorkovich told CNBC that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Friday's ceasefire to hold.
"What I know is Putin our president wants this to stop, and he will make everything possible to stop it," he said.
However, Dvorkivich believes it's ultimately up to the Ukrainian people to solve their problems: "Now it's time to establish inclusive dialogue, find a compromise... but it's up to Ukraine's people to do this, it's not up to U.S, Russia or Europe," he said.
"After that we will have hard time dealing with the problems of the Ukrainian economy," he said. "[The economy] is destroyed and requires huge financing from Europe, Russian, the states [U.S.] and international financial institutions to be rebuilt."
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