Russia resilient to any kinds of sanctions - Azerbaijani president

BAKU. Feb 24 (Interfax) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has commented on the Ukraine crisis in an interview with Russian media outlets and noted that Russia will demonstrate resilience to the new restrictions.

"It's hard to make predictions but, obviously, this is the beginning of a long process. Clearly, when the Russian president made the decision [to recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics], I think he realized that the process would be lengthy. In my opinion, Russia is resilient to any kinds of sanctions due to its potential, geography and capacities. This is my personal opinion, and it is proven by the sanctions imposed on Russia earlier," Aliyev said at a meeting with heads of leading Russian media outlets in Moscow.

"The sanctions have actually helped Russian manufacturers reduce their dependence on imports. I am positive that sanctions are inefficient. Of course, they will deal a blow to the Russian economy. When President Putin made the decision, he probably took that into account. However, the sanctions will also blow back on their authors. The thing is, it's hard to find another market with such a potential for exports, even for exports of high-tech products," he said.

"I do not know what will happen. What will the sanctions against Russia be? The West has yet to announce them. For now, there has been nothing but hints," Aliyev said.

Aliyev noted he was hoping for a peaceful resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. "We are interacting with Russia very closely, and our relations with Ukraine are developing as well. [...] Indeed, I would like the situation to be resolved peaceful but, regretfully, this is sometimes impossible in real life," he said.