Moscow has accused the United States of waging an economic war on Russia and is determining how to respond, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
Russia has been hit with mass sanctions by both western governments and private companies, who are now pulling out of the nation to boycott the Ukraine invasion.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced a ban on all imports of Russian oil, gas, and energy to the United States — again raising fuel prices for American drivers.
“Putin’s war is already hurting American families at the gas pump since Putin began his military buildup on Ukrainian borders,” Biden claimed. “And with this action, it’s going to go up further. I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home and coordination with our partners.”
Biden additionally claimed that the ban has “strong bipartisan support in Congress and, I believe, the country” because “Americans have rallied to support the Ukrainian people and made it clear we will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war.”
The average price for a gallon of regular gas hit $4.25 on Wednesday — breaking the record for an all-time high.
Reuters reports, “Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cast the West’s sanctions as ‘hostile bacchanalia’ which had roiled global markets and pointedly warned that it was unclear how far turbulence on global energy markets would go.”
“You see the bacchanalia, the hostile bacchanalia, which the West has sown – and that of course makes the situation very difficult and forces us to think seriously,” Peskov said.
When asked about Biden’s ban on energy imports from Russia, Peskov told the outlet that “Russia had been, was and would be a reliable energy supplier.” However, he said that Moscow is still determining how they will respond.
“The situation demands a rather deep analysis – those decisions announced by President Biden,” Peskov said. “If you are asking me what Russia is going to do – Russia is going to do what is necessary to defend its interests.”
“The United States definitely has declared economic war against Russia and is waging this war,” he added.
