Medvedev warns West cannot sway Moscow’s stance by stoking anti-Russian hysteria

Dmitry Medvedev: If we look back on the current relations between Russia and the EU, let us face it, these relations are going through hard times. We believe that this is the result of rather hasty decisions made by the European Union itself. And I think EU residents are the ones paying for these decisions (I emphasize once again, we did not initiate them). Of course, this negatively affects our country as well.

Host: In the case of the Skripal poisoning. The defense given by the two suspects was mocked in Europe or outside of Russia. Are you embarrassed by that reaction? Do you think it damages Russia's credibility?

Dmitry Medvedev: Today, we have not yet talked about our friends across the ocean, for example, the anti-Russia hysteria in the United States of America. We are perfectly aware of the fact that all that is connected with Russia in the United States now has a different goal – internal political squabbles; in fact, arguments between the Republicans and the Democrats and arguments inside the Republican Party.

The same can be said about the European countries. Nine times out of ten, this anti-Russia campaign is in pursuit of entirely internal political goals: to stay in power, form a government or achieve some other goal. But certainly not to influence Russia's position. It cannot be influenced, something that everyone realises very well.

Host:  I want to ask you about the two Skripal suspects, just because I want to know if you really believe that they went there to see a cathedral.

Dmitry Medvedev: I do not know. I will not comment, just because I am not acquainted with those people, neither am I acquainted with the comments to a sufficient degree. I do not know. How can I know?

Host: But does Russia see itself at war with America or anyone who imposed sanctions on your country?

Dmitry Medvedev: And sanctions against the banking sector are, in fact, a declaration of trade war. These are the hardest sanctions. But without a doubt, we will be able to overcome this kind of pressure.

We don’t have any doubt that our economy is able to adapt to any form of pressure. The only question is why one would need this. I mean that this tends to upset international order, including the international economic order.

We understand that, for example, the extent of the integration, or mutual dependence of the Russian and US economies is insignificant. American businesses are not much affected by the sanctions that the United States has imposed on our country because the amount of trade is modest. But European businesses have been hit hard because the amount of trade is huge. Currently, trade with the United States is estimated at about $20 billion – this is a low period, though. This is nothing.

The amount of trade with the European Union is much more significant, as the European Union accounts for 45 percent of our trade. This figure runs into the hundreds of billions of euros. I will just give you one example. After the sanctions were imposed, our trade with the European Union all but halved, plunging from 430 billion euros to 220-230 billion euros at some point. So my question is: So my question is: what losses did Europe incur? Europe lost jobs. It lost revenue. It lost confidence

Host: Is Donald Trump the best thing that happened to Russia in recenttime?

Dmitry Medvedev: We did not elect Donald Trump. Donald Trump is the President of the United States of America. We respect the choice of the American people. If there were a different president instead of Trump, we would respect him no less. As far as we can see, Donald Trump is having a hard time because he is being attacked by the right and by the left. On the one hand, he is suspected of having some sort of sympathy towards our country even though he actually has not yet done anything to radically improve relations between our countries. And he is unlikely to do – due to the pressure being put on him. And on the other hand, he is being pressured in other areas.