Western sanctions are testing Russia's strength: Medvedev

[September 15, 2014]  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's strength is being tested by sanctions imposed by the West and the country must react in a level-headed way, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told members of the country's ruling party, United Russia, on Monday.

"When a series of our partners, if they can be called that, test Russia's strength through sanctions and all kinds of threats, it is important not to succumb to the temptation of so-called easy solutions and to preserve and continue the development of democratic processes in our society, our state," Medvedev said in a televised speech.

The European Union and the United States imposed late last week a fresh set of sanctions against Moscow for its policy on Ukraine, further limiting access for some of Russia's key companies to foreign capital markets.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Alessandra Prentice)

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