U.S. sanctions will consolidate elites, have little economic impact - Kremlin aide
PETROZAVODSK. April 28 (Interfax) - The U.S. sanctions against Russian citizens and companies will not have a serious impact on the economy, but will stimulate the maximum consolidation of the elites, said Kremlin aide Andrei Belousov.
"I think they will be of influence in the sense that we will better mobilize ourselves. What our colleagues do not understand is that their sanctions have led to the maximum consolidation of the elites over the past 10-15 years," Belousov told reporters in Petrozavodsk on Monday.
"It looks like our mentality is organized in a way that requires a strong external negative impact for us to unite and to become consolidated. The more sanctions come the stronger the consolidation of the elites will be. The sanctions' main effect is to be found here," he said.
Asked how the sanctions could influence economic growth, the ruble's exchange rate and the outflow of capital, Belousov said that, "such things are of small importance."
"A certain momentary influence will be felt by all accounts. But sanctions will hardly have any serious effect in the short-term, annual perspective," he said.