Russia not expect sanctions to be canceled soon: official

Russia doesn't expect sanctions against it to be dropped soon, Vladimir Markin, speaker of Russian Federation Council has said.

The decision to impose sanctions on Russia has had a negative effect not only on Russia itself but also on foreign countries. So sooner or later the sanctions will be canceled, Markin was quoted by the local newspaper "Izvestia".

He also mentioned that Russia's focus on national economic growth seeks to stem the effect of the sanctions on the country.

He said that foreign leaders are reluctant to end the sanctions because they fear losing authority.

The United States, along with some of its European allies, has imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Russia in response to what they called the annexation of Crimea and destabilizing activities in eastern Ukraine.