© RIA Novosti/Alexei DruzhininRussian President Vladimir Putin
Speaking after a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Putin said that Russia has not ruled out responding with tit-for-tat sanctions. At the same time, he said, those measures would only be implemented if they did not harm Russia, and if they would help protect the country.
"The government is thinking about that. But if they are to be imposed, this will be to create better conditions for ourselves," Putin said.
As for trade partnerships and cooperation in sectors targeted by the EU sanctions, Putin said that "there is always an alternative" in case somebody "does not want to work with Russia."
"There are some things that are negative, but if we consider the problem in its totality, there is more positive than negative," Putin said, adding that sanctions open up opportunities for Russia's manufacturers.
Putin has criticized attempts to "destabilize" the situation in Ukraine rather than solve it. Putting the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Igor Plotnitsky, on the list of people sanctioned may jeopardize the peace talks in Ukraine, Putin said.
Comment: The current 'cease-fire' may have bought some time for Russia during the NATO summit in Wales, and prevented a potentially deadly mission to take Mariupol by the NAF, but it's looking like something new and major will have to take place before the situation in Ukraine sees any real change. Ultimately, that probably means regime change in Kiev, but how that is achieved is anybody's guess at this point.
"I have this seditious thought on my mind, that Ukraine itself is not a subject of interest, rather it is simply being used as a tool to undermine international relations," Putin said.
Comment: That's for sure. See: Igor Strelkov: From swimming with Piranhas to swimming with Great White sharks
On Thursday, Moscow expressed its regrets over the sanctions, saying that the EU "does not see or is unwilling to see" Russia's recent efforts to help stop the bloodshed in Ukraine and peacefully resolve the conflict between Kiev and the country's southeast regions.
Comment: That's because the EU (and NATO) aren't really interested in stopping the blood shed and peacefully resolving the conflict. Those are just buzz words they use for the benefit of the public.
The new restrictions targeting Russia's energy, finance and defense sectors came into force on Friday morning, after their publication in the EU Official Journal.
The EU has restricted three Russian energy companies from raising long-term debt on European capital markets - Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft.
Services that Russia needs to extract oil and gas in the Arctic, deep sea and shale extraction projects have also appeared on the sanctions list.
The export of any technology considered military "dual-use" to nine Russian companies has been banned, including the manufacturer of Kalashnikov rifles.
Five major Russian state-owned banks - Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Vnesheconombank (VEB) and Rosselkhozbank (Russian Agricultural Bank) - have been banned from receiving any long-term (over 30-day) loans from EU companies.
In addition, 24 individuals, including Russian MPs and businessmen as well as politicians in Crimea and the Donbass, have been prohibited from traveling to the EU and any assets there have been frozen.
The US has matched the EU initiative with its own set of sanctions, which also targeted Russia's biggest lenders - Sberbank, Gazprombank and Rosselkhozbank - as well as the country's state-owned technology firms and five energy companies.
In the oil sector, there will be new limitations on exploration facilities for Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Lukoil, Surgutneftegaz and Rosneft.
The US also said it would prohibit "transactions in, provision of financing for, or other dealings in new debt of greater than 90 days maturity issued by two additional Russian energy companies, Gazprom Neft and Transneft."
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