Russian economy taking ‘serious blows,’ Kremlin says

(The Hill) — A Kremlin spokesperson on Wednesday said that the Russian economy was taking “serious blows” amid sanctions imposed by foreign governments as Moscow continues its attack on Ukraine. 

“Russia’s economy is experiencing serious blows,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a call with foreign reporters, according to CNN.

“But there is a certain margin of safety, there is potential, there are some plans, work is underway,” he added.

Peskov’s remarks came after a question about a comment made by President Biden during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.

“Russia’s economy is reeling and Putin alone is to blame,” Biden said in his speech. 

The president also asserted that the sanctions in place against Russia thus far contributed to a 30 percent loss in the value of the ruble and to the Russian stock market losing 40 percent of its value in less than a week.   

Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Western countries have imposed harsh sanctions on the country. 

On Tuesday, Biden announced that the U.S. would close off American air space to all Russian flights, following similar action from the European Union and Canada. 

Biden said the move would work toward “further isolating Russia — and adding an additional squeeze — on their economy.”

The U.S. has also imposed other sanctions including kicking certain Russian banks out of SWIFT, a major international banking system. The U.S. has also promised to impose measures to prevent the Russian Central Bank from undermining sanctions and bolstering the ruble by using its reserves.