The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov said that the response of Russia and China to Western sanctions could be a refusal to use Western payment systems and the transition to settlements in national currencies " He accused the Western countries of the fact that when they "

So while we are discussing how certain sanctions of Western countries will affect Russia, the Kremlin is deliberately preparing for international isolation.. Perhaps Putin is inspired by the example of Iran. After the introduction of Western sanctions, this country was disconnected from the international settlement systems, it does not accept credit cards - but this did not prevent the strengthening of the Ayatollah regime.. Because this regime, like the regime of Vladimir Putin, relies on force, not SWIFT.. And the Kremlin now wants to do everything so that no Western sanctions prevent the strengthening of Russian authoritarianism.

Why the Russian leadership needs this, the same Sergey Lavrov clearly explains. He accuses the West of seeking to " Simply put - the Kremlin is outraged by the fact that after the collapse of communism in the civilized world they expect from Russia respect for universal values \u200b\u200band international law, and not the behavior of a gopnik from the high road on the Soviet model.

But it is the Soviet example that inspires Putin and his associates.. And in order to maintain power, the Kremlin is ready to accept even the role of a Chinese satellite - how else to explain the calls for China to act together? After all, it is understandable - if you take a sober look at the level of development of the Chinese and Russian economies - that such joint actions will lead to the transformation of Russia into one of the Chinese regions..

It is only important that Ukraine does not become a continuation of this region..

Source: Espreso.