Russia ranks ‘unfriendly’ nations; US tops chart

Moscow: Russian State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has published on social media a list of “unfriendly nations” ranked by the number of anti-Russian sanctions they have imposed.

“They are the ones to be blamed for skyrocketing prices worldwide,” his post read on Thursday, RT reported.

The list is headed by the US, with 1,983 distinct sanctions placed against Russia, according to Volodin’s count. It is followed by Canada, Switzerland, Britain, the EU as a single entity, Australia and Japan.

“By introducing illegal sanctions against Russia, these states triggered a surge of prices for energy and food. Those are the primary culprits behind the current troubles and the future crises throughout the world,” the Russian official stated.

Blaming Russia for the increase in inflation that many nations now experience has become a common theme for many Western nations.

The Joe Biden administration in the US coined the term “Putin’s price hike”. But judging by opinion polls, Americans are not particularly willing to buy it and many believe their government should have done more to tackle inflation, RT reported.

Energy prices were hitting record high levels in Europe before Russia’s offensive against Ukraine. Back then, Moscow had said Europe could alleviate the surge by inking long-term supply contracts with Russia that would have mechanisms to dampen the spikes in the spot market.

It also suggested bringing online the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as soon as possible to secure the imports. Western sanctions against Russia that are now in place include the suspension of the project for the foreseeable future and a drive to decouple Europe from Russian energy. – IANS