President Putin’s spokesman said that “common sense” will prevail
People protest as a Russian passenger plane lands in Tbilisi, Georgia on May 19, 2023. © Anadolu / Getty Images
The public in the West has been subjected to anti-Russian rhetorics for decades and it will take time for the attitude to change, Peskov has said
The trumped-up anti-Russian sentiments will remain in the West for years to come until they will eventually fade away, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
In an interview broadcast by the TV channel ‘Rossiya 1’ on Sunday, Peskov argued that some countries, including Germany and the Baltic states, have been using “Russophobia” as a means of diverting the public’s attention from domestic issues.
“Their economic problems are obvious. The competitiveness of the famous German industry is declining. The cost of living is rising. The economic and social pressure is increasing,” the spokesman said, adding that that is why some European leaders prefer to make a “bogeyman” out of Russia.
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Peskov went on to say that “this Russophobia will have some inertia” and it will “ several decades will likely pass” before the tide turns.
“Right now, Russophobia is at its peak. It will go down… It will happen someday, and common sense will gradually prevail.”
Many Western countries have imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow in response to its military operation in Ukraine that was launched in February 2022. Russia was subsequently banned from multiple cultural and sports events.
In November, President Vladimir Putin said that “Russophobia” became de facto “the official ideology of the Western ruling elites.”
Last month, the Russian State Duma prepared a bill that would criminalize the discrimination of Russian nationals living abroad and “public incitement to extremism by international officials and public organizations.”
