The big Russian businesses hurt by Western sanctions against Russia won’t even think about putting pressure on President Putin, because the interests of the state are at stake in the conflict, says a reputed presidential ‘inner circle’ figure. “This is out of the question,” Gennady Timchenko, who is one of the few Russian businessmen personally targeted by the US-championed sanctions, told ITAR-TASS. “In any situation Putin is guided by the interests of Russia. Period. There can be no compromise about it,” he said. “[Captains of industry] wouldn’t even thing about discussing it. Sanctions pose certain difficulties, but they are trivial next to the scale of the state’s goals.” Timchenko is the owner of the private investment group Volga Group and former co-owner of oil trader Gunvor Group. He is estimated to worth between $12 billion and $16 billion. ‘Ready to live under sanctions’ Timchenko is among those few Russians who have been directly affected by the worst crisis in US-Russia bilateral relations since the Cold War.