MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russia will consider ways of retaliating to new U.S. sanctions, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying on Tuesday by Russia’s media.
"Of course, we will examine response measures… Especially since the last list of individuals and entities targeted by U.S. restrictive measures includes our citizens. So in this aspect, indubitably, we will implement response measures and select the ‘candidates’ who excel in their aggressive anti-Russia policies and decisively hamper the normalization of bilateral relations,” Ryabkov told Russia’s media.
Washington used a new pretext to introduce the latest restrictive measures as previously it has linked sanctions with Russia’s alleged meddling in the U.S. election or Crimea’s reunification, according to the official.
"It shows that the U.S. government, pursuing the goals formulated in the recently promulgated doctrines of various kinds on the so-called deterring Russia, does not stop at nothing,” Ryabkov noted.
Russia will continue to stick to its firm political course, using the sanctions as an impetus to further economic development, according to the deputy foreign minister.
"It would be the most effective response to the illegal policy of sanctions of the Trump administration,” Ryabkov stated.
On June 11, the United States sanctioned three Russian individuals and five entities under an executive order against malicious cyber activities and the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) over threatening the safety and security of the United States and its allies.
*****Russian deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov