Russia’s foreign minister on Thursday downplayed intensifying economic sanctions, saying his country would recover from the crisis with a full bill of health, vowing to cut ties with the West.

Iran PressEurope: Sergey Lavrov vowed Russia would never again rely on cooperation with Western partners, accusing them of betrayal.

Lavrov told CNBC that Russia could handle its economy by itself.

“Regarding our economic problems, we’ll sort them out,” Lavrov told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Turkey following his talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Lavrov noted that Russia has at various other points handled periods of economic difficulty.

The longtime Russian minister added that he was no longer under any illusion that the West could be trusted, accusing it of betrayal.

“I assure you: We will come out of this crisis with a full bill of psychological health and a full bill of health regarding our awareness. We will not be under the slightest illusion that the West could be a reliable partner,” Lavrov said via a translation.

“We will do everything so as never, in any way, to be dependent on the West in those areas of our life which have a decisive significance for our people,” he said.

Lavrov said Thursday that the ongoing sanctions fly in the face of apparent Western democratic values, citing it as another example of untrustworthiness.

“Whoever heard of private property rights being trampled over by a simple clicking of the fingers? Whoever heard of the presumption of innocence, the pillar of the legal system in the West, is simply ignored and violated most gravely?.” he said.

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