All news

Russia not to leave US unfriendly steps without response — diplomat

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich says the US is trying hard to spread its own legislation all over the world
Russian Foreign Ministry ITAR-TASS/Gennadiy Khamelyanin
Russian Foreign Ministry
© ITAR-TASS/Gennadiy Khamelyanin

MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. Introduction of new sanctions by the United States against a number of Russian citizens calls into question cooperation with Washington on the Iranian nuclear program, the Syrian crisis and other issues; such steps will not be left without a response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Tuesday.

“Seeking to end the outgoing year on a high anti-Russian note, Washington has come out with a new burst of sanctions against our citizens and organizations,” the diplomat said. “This gives the impression that somebody there is itching to shake the foundations of bilateral relations, inventing new pretexts to this end.”

“Because it’s absolutely clear that the inclusion of four Russian officials in the so-called ‘Magnitsky List’ is dictated by strictly political motives, and not by the care about the fate of the lawyer who tragically died,” he said. “Washington is again using double standards, holding human rights demands against us and simultaneously turning a blind eye to the far from ideal situation in the human rights sphere in the United States where secret services until recently have been given the right to apply medieval-style torture methods, and policemen are still killing people with impunity only because they have a different colour of the skin.”

Lukashevich said that “the ungrounded restrictions against Russian legal entities based on the internal American law on sanctions against Iran and Syria, including in violation of the obligations that the Barack Obama administration assumed before us, also do not stand up to criticism.” “The United States is trying hard to spread its own legislation all over the world and dictate its conditions to everybody. However, no pressure methods will work against Russia,” he said.

“Moreover, the US actions challenge the prospects for bilateral cooperation and settlement of the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, the Syrian crisis and other acute international problems. Washington has already been able to see that we have not left and will not leave such unfriendly steps without a response,” Lukashevich said.