SOCHI, September 21. /TASS/. Russia retains the principle of reciprocity in relation to the current sanctions, but notes this tool is used so frequently by the US that responding to it every time is impossible, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"We will take measures, which meet the interests of the Russian Federation best," the Kremlin spokesman said in responding to a question about Moscow's reaction to the new round of restrictive measures from Washington.
He noted that the decisions made by Washington "cannot even be called sanctions - these are unilateral restrictions."
"Sanctions are actions that are legitimate under international law. Such restrictions (on the part of Washington) are not legitimate in terms of international law," Peskov noted.
"They (the US) use this practice so often that you can run yourself into the ground if you try to respond to every new unfriendly manifestation," the Kremlin spokesman emphasized.
"But the fact that we are adhering to and will adhere to the principle of reciprocity should not be doubted by anybody," the Kremlin official concluded, "but the main thing is that Moscow will do what is in its interests," he added.
When commenting on the application of US sanctions against China over the purchase of Russian military products, Peskov noted that there are different reports about it.
"In particular, there are reports that it is not the first time when they (US sanctions) were applied against a third party. That being said, they (US sanctions) were applied to that third party a few decades ago," he elaborated, adding that this information should be clarified.
Blacklists expanded
On Thursday, a high-ranking official of the administration told reporters during a telephone briefing that the US had added another 33 Russian officials, business executives and organizations to its blacklist of individuals and corporations that fall under the anti-Russian sanctions.
He said the individuals were linked to Russia’s military industrial complex.
The representative said that US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo had blacklisted the officials, who were acting in the interests of Russia's defense industries and intelligence services, under the terms of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act [CAATSA].
Now the so-called control list has 72 entries.
CAATSA’s clause 231, which stipulates the rules for putting together the list, says any person conscientiously taking part in considerable transactions with any of the blackballed individuals or organizations falls under US-imposed sanctions automatically.
In practice, this provision means that CAATSA presupposed the application of US restrictive measures to third countries cooperating with Russia’s defense sector and intelligence organizations.
Sanctions against China
The Chinese authorities addressed the United States with serious caution over Washington’s decision to levy sanctions against China’s institution and its director.