MOSCOW, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Russia has managed to minimize the impact of Western sanctions and will continue to make it, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
Peskov made the remarks after media reports cited U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as saying Washington would not extend temporary licenses to allow the purchase of Russian oil.
"We have been living under the weight of sanctions not for the first month or the first year. We consider them illegal under international law," Peskov told reporters.
He said Moscow had assumed that the United States might not extend the licenses as "one of the expected scenarios."
The United States had previously issued general licenses permitting Russian oil shipments loaded on or before March 12 to be sold, delivered or offloaded through April 11.
