Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that we were forced to take these measures, referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier that day, according to Reuters. We had no other chance but to act differently given all of our previous attempts to change our situation were fruitless, he explained. Russia remains a part of the global economy and we do not plan to damage the system that we belong to, Putin continued, adding that our partners should understand that and not punish us out from this system.