Russian Foreign Ministry: New US Sanctions Represent Hostile Anti-Russian Attack

Earlier, the United States imposed individual sanctions, as well as trade and visa restrictions, targeting senior Russian officials, over the alleged poisoning of jailed Russian vlogger Alexei Navalny.

Russia’s response to new US sanctions will not necessarily be symmetrical, Washington’s decision is a triumph of the absurd and a hostile attack that will not affect Moscow’s policy, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.

“The absurd triumphs when the reason for the imposition of sanctions is declared to be a deliberately arranged provocation with the alleged ‘poisoning’ of Navalny with some ‘chemical weapons.’ All this is just an excuse to continue open interference in our internal affairs. We do not intend to put up with this. We will react on the basis of the principle of reciprocity, not necessarily symmetrically,” Zakharova said in a commentary.

“It is probably difficult for colleagues in the United States to understand the illusory claims to their own exclusivity and come to terms with it. Calculations to impose something on Russia through sanctions or other pressure have failed in the past, and fail now. If the United States is not ready for an equal dialogue on a reasonable basis, this is their choice. Regardless of the US ‘sanctions bias,’ we will continue to consistently and resolutely defend our national interests, rebuffing any aggression. We call on our colleagues not to play with fire,” Zakharova said.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) joined the US Departments of State and Commerce on Tuesday in sanctioning seven senior Russian officials, including Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Aleksandr Bortnikov and Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, over the Navalny case.

In addition to Bortnikov and Krasnov, OFAC also designated Presidential Policy Directorate Chief Andrei Yarin, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Kiriyenko, Deputy Minister of Defense Aleksey Krivoruchko, Deputy Minister of Defense Pavel Popov and Federal Penitentiary Service Director Alexander Kalashnikov.

Alexey Navalny talks to journalists before coming back to Moscow from Berlin, 17 January 2020

Reuters reported earlier that Washington was set to impose restrictions against Russian officials under two executive orders – 13661, issued after Crimea’s reunification with Russia in 2014, and 13382, issued in 2005 to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

It is also restricting exports for 14 entities located in Russia, Germany, and Switzerland over their alleged role in the poisoning of Navalny, though no solid evidence has been presented to underpin those allegations.

Sourse: sputniknews.com