Russia’s foreign minister on Thursday struck a defiant tone in the face of tightened economic sanctions, saying his country would recover from the crisis in “full health” and vowing never to rely on Western partners again.

Sergey Lavrov told CNBC that Russia could run its own economy as the rogue nation was increasingly isolated by international powers trying to block President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Regarding our economic problems, we will solve them,” Lavrov told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Turkey after his talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Lavrov noted that Russia at various other times dealt with periods of isolation and economic hardship.

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

“I assure you: we will emerge from this crisis in a state of complete psychological health and a state of complete health with respect to our conscience. We will not be under the illusion that the West can be a reliable partner,” Lavrov said via translation.

“We will do everything possible so that we are never, in any way, dependent on the West in areas of our lives that have decisive meaning for our people,” he said.

It is not clear how Russia intends to operate its economy independently in the future.

Russia’s economy has fallen to its knees in the two weeks since the start of the Ukraine war, as Western allies have sought economic ways to pressure Putin to end the conflict.

The Russian ruble has continued to fall this week, hitting new record lows amid more financial foreclosures, while trading on the Moscow stock exchange remains largely suspended. The Western sanctions are meant to undermine the Russian economy, and many economists think they are likely to work.

The Kremlin said Thursday that the country’s economy was “shocked” following an “unprecedented” economic war.

Meanwhile, pressure on Putin’s elite inner circle has continued to mount, with Britain on Thursday adding Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich and six others to a list of oligarchs facing confiscation of assets under UK, European Union and US sanctions. Union.

Lavrov said Thursday that the ongoing sanctions were against Western democratic values, citing it as another example of a lack of trust.

“Who has ever heard of private property being trampled on with the snap of a finger? Who has ever heard of the presumption of innocence, a mainstay of the legal system in the West, simply ignored and violated in the most serious of ways?