Kremlin says United States unleashed economic war on Russia

LONDON (Reuters) -The Kremlin accused the United States on Wednesday of declaring an economic war on Russia that was sowing mayhem through energy markets and put the United States on notice that it was thinking carefully how to respond to a ban on Russian oil and energy.

Russia’s economy is facing the gravest crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union after the West imposed crippling sanctions on almost entire Russian financial and corporate system following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. 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. Asked about a ban on Russian oil and energy imports announced by U.S. President Joe Biden, Peskov said Russia had been, was and would be a reliable energy supplier.

Moscow would, though, now think very seriously about a response, Peskov said. “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 said.