Putin 'doesn’t give a s*** about sanctions,' Russian diplomat warns

Russian leader Vladimir Putin "doesn't give a s***" about sanctions," said Russian Ambassador to Sweden Viktor Tatarintsev.

The sanctions even helped the Russian economy, the diplomat told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet in an interview published Saturday evening which was translated by The Independent.

"Excuse my language, but we don't give a s*** about all their sanctions," he told the outlet. "We have already had so many sanctions, and in that sense, they've had a positive effect on our economy and agriculture."

U.S. President Joe Biden has threatened sanctions against Russia if it invades Ukraine. The Kremlin is already subject to various sanctions over its 2014 capture of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and human rights abuses, among other things.

"New sanctions are nothing positive but not as bad as the West makes it sound," Tatarintsev said. "The more the West pushes Russia, the stronger the Russian response will be."

He told the outlet that the sanctions have helped Russia make products that are "just as good." 

"We are more self-sufficient and have been able to increase our exports," Tatarintsev said. "We have no Italian or Swiss cheeses, but we've learned to make just as good Russian cheeses using Italian and Swiss recipes."

Even though about 100,000 Russian troops are massed along the Ukrainian border, the diplomat stated that the Kremlin wants to avoid war. 

"That is our political leadership's most sincere wish," he told Aftonbladet. "The last thing people in Russia want is war."