In a speech in Moscow, Andrei Klepach of Vnesheconombank reportedly warned of the increased costs sanctions pose to the Russian economy. He also reportedly said that Russia is lagging behind the rest of the world in technological development and, compared with Ukraine, whose hard-pressed economy, he said, is surviving thanks to Western support.
"We have an illusion that everything there will collapse. It has not collapsed and will not collapse," Klepach said, according to The Moscow Times.
The speech was reportedly given in May, but parts have only become public now.
