All news

Russian Duma chief warns of new Western sanctions

Threats of new sanctions remain despite the fact that they shake the very foundations of international law and global economic development, Sergey Naryshkin says

MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. The leader of Russia's parliamentary lower house on Tuesday urged to prepare for new Western sanctions.

"We should take full account of our experience of work under conditions of so-called Western sanctions smacking of brigandage and also be ready that our opponents will continue their self-destructive policy," State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin told a lower house plenary session.

"You see that threats of new sanctions remain and they are being made constantly on the slightest pretext or even without cause despite the fact that they shake the very foundations of international law and global economic development," Naryshkin said.

The lawmaker called on deputies from all factions "to cooperate for the sake of citizens and carry out consistent and professional work". He said he believed this "will be the best response to any provocations conducted from overseas".

"The most striking example are sanctions of the United States and its obedient satellites against our parliamentarians, representatives of international organisations, who are being prevented from full-scale work through various visa restrictions imposed on them," Naryshkin said, referring to Washington’s move to disrupt a visit by the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament to New York to attend events of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Even in the Cold War-era, Western leaders "valued international dialogue despite all those tensions in relations," Naryshkin noted. "Now, the U.S. is blocking the dialogue since it cannot answer many questions," he said.

Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko was to attend the 4th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament from IPU member states, scheduled to take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from August 31 to September 2, alongside the 10th Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament, due to be held in New York on August 29 and 30.

The United States issued a visa to Matviyenko but set a number of restrictions for her stay in the country, which the Federation Council speaker and the Russian Foreign Ministry have dismissed as unacceptable. The visa allowed Matviyenko to meet with the U.N. secretary-general but prohibited her participation in the conference.