UPDATE: Putin: Development is Russia’s sole response to sanctions

MOSCOW, Feb 28 (PRIME) -- Creating favorable conditions for development of Russia’s economy is the only effective response to all external restrictions, President Vladimir Putin told the Interior Ministry Board on Thursday.

“The economy is a very important sphere. You can see the conditions under which we are living and developing so there can be only one effective response to all external restrictions. It is to create the most favorable conditions for the domestic economic development. This is… a national, a state task,” he said.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a bill on new anti-Russian sanctions discussed by the U.S. government, will hurt relations between the two states, but is no threat for stability of the banking system.

“We will, of course, watch closely the passing of the bill. It is premature to speak that it is the final edition… There is no doubt that the material is really serious and it will impact Russian-U.S. bilateral relations additionally if it is adopted,” he said.

“At the same time… our government has taken all necessary steps to hedge against further unpredictable unfriendly actions of the United States. That is why there should be no concerns about the stability of the banking system.”

On Tuesday, the U.S. Congress published a draft introduced by several Democrat and Republican senators in February, targeting multiple sectors of the Russian economy and sovereign debt with fresh sanctions.

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