Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow will continue its military action in Ukraine until it achieves its goals and scoffed at Western efforts to corner Russia with sanctions. Putin told an annual economic forum in the far eastern city of Vladivostok that the main objective behind sending troops to Ukraine was to protect civilians in the east of that country after eight years of fighting. “We were not the ones who started the military action, we are trying to put an end to it,” Putin said, reaffirming his argument that he sent troops to Ukraine to protect Moscow-backed separatist regions in Ukraine, which have been fighting Ukrainian forces in the conflict that erupted in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea. “All our action is aimed at helping the people living in Donbas, it is our duty and we will fulfill it to the end,” he said. Putin claimed Russia had strengthened its sovereignty in the face of Western sanctions, which he said bordered on aggression. “Russia has resisted the West’s economic, financial and technological aggression,” Putin said. “I am sure that we have lost nothing and will not lose anything. The most important gain is the strengthening of our sovereignty, it is an inevitable result of what is happening.” The Russian leader acknowledged that the national economy will shrink by 2 percent this year, but said the economic and financial situation in Russia has stabilized, consumer price inflation has slowed and unemployment has remained low. “There has been some polarization in the world and within the country, but I see that as a positive,” he added. “Anything unnecessary, harmful, anything that prevented us from moving forward will be rejected and we will gain growth momentum because growth can only be based on sovereignty.” Putin stressed that Russia would continue to protect its sovereignty against what he described as an effort by the US and its allies to maintain global dominance, saying “the world should not rely on the dictates of a country that considers itself her the representative of the omnipotent or even superior and based his policies on his perceived exclusivity”. He derided Western efforts to cap Russian oil and gas prices, calling the idea “stupid” and saying Russia would have plenty of customers in Asia. “Demand is so high in world markets that we will have no problem selling it,” he said. “An attempt to limit prices by administrative means is just flattery, it’s pure nonsense,” Putin said, adding that it “will only lead to an increase in prices.” “If they try to implement this stupid decision, it won’t do anything good for those who make it,” he warned. “Will they make political decisions that will contradict the contracts? In that case, we will simply stop supplies if it is against our economic interests. We will not supply natural gas, oil, diesel oil or coal.” Putin noted that “those who are trying to impose something on us are not in a position today to dictate their will,” pointing to protests in the West against rising energy prices. He rejected the EU’s argument that Russia was using energy as a weapon by cutting off gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Germany. Putin confirmed Russia’s argument that Western sanctions had hampered maintenance of the last remaining turbine, forcing it to shut down. He reiterated that Moscow is ready to “push the button” and start pumping natural gas “from tomorrow” through Nord Stream 2, which has been put on hold by German authorities. Commenting on several critical media outlets forced to shut down after the start of the military campaign in Ukraine following the passage of a new law criminalizing any reporting of military action that deviates from the official line, Putin said their journalists were happy to leave the country . “They have always worked against our country while they were here and now they are happy to leave,” he said. Russia’s leading independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, was among the outlets forced to close under official pressure. On Monday, a court in Moscow upheld the Russian authorities’ proposal to revoke the license. Dmitriy Muratov, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and editor-in-chief of the paper, called Monday’s decision “political” and “has no legal basis whatsoever.” Putin tried to play down the Muratov prize, describing it as politically driven and, in a side jab, compared it to the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Barack Obama while he was US president. “We had a business relationship with President Obama, but what did they give him the Nobel Prize for?” Putin said. “What did he do to help protect the peace? I mean military operations in certain areas of the world that the president conducted.” Commenting on the European Union’s decision to make it harder for Russian citizens to enter the 27-nation bloc, Putin said Russia would not respond in kind and would continue to welcome visitors. “We are not going to stop contact, and those who do, are isolating themselves, not us,” he said.