OREANDA-NEWS Exports from Estonia to Russia in March this year increased compared to the same period last year, the press service of the Republican Department of Statistics reported on Wednesday.

"If we compare March of last year and this, exports to Russia increased from 57 million to 74 million euros, 44 percent of exports are machinery and transport equipment: These are printing machines and centrifuges," Yane Leppmets, an analyst at the Statistics Department, told the state broadcasting portal ERR. To date, the European Union has adopted ten packages of sanctions against Russia because of the situation in Ukraine. The G7 countries also considered a complete ban on exports to Russia, but decided to refrain from this idea, the portal notes.

At the same time, the Estonian Foreign Ministry urges local businessmen to abandon trade with Russia. "Estonia has always been a supporter of tough sanctions. We call on Estonian enterprises to comply with these tough sanctions," Tynis Nirk, head of the ministry's department, told ERR.

The Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that the country will cope with the sanctions pressure that the West began to exert on Russia several years ago and continues to strengthen. Moscow noted that the West lacks the courage to admit the failure of sanctions against the Russian Federation. In the Western countries themselves, opinions have repeatedly been voiced that anti-Russian sanctions are ineffective.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously stated that the policy of containing and weakening Russia is a long-term strategy of the West, and sanctions have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy. According to him, the main goal of the West is to worsen the lives of millions of people.