MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. Sanctions against Russian companies are part of Western attempts to inflict a "strategic defeat" on the country, but such schemes are doomed to failure, Russia’s Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting on countering the sanctions policy pursued by the collective West against Russian companies.

The European Union is the primary initiator of sanctions against Russia, he said, adding that the United States, Japan, Canada, and Australia are continuing this course of action.

"The legitimate interests of Russian businesses abroad are constantly being violated. This, too, is part of the campaign aimed at inflicting a so-called strategic defeat, <…> not only on the battlefield but also on the entire economic complex of the Russian Federation," Medvedev said and expressed confidence that such attempts are doomed to failure.