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Russian Foreign Ministry surprised at inconsistency of US policy towards Moscow

The US participated in the second Eastern Economic Forum in Russia’s Vladivostok after slapping more sanctions on Russia
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova  Alexandr Sherbak/TASS
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
© Alexandr Sherbak/TASS

MOSCOW, September 8. /TASS/. The United States officially participated in the second Eastern Economic Forum in Russia’s Vladivostok after slapping more sanctions on Russia, Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.

"Discouraging others from cooperation with Russia, imposing sanctions against legal entities and economic operators, but paradoxically, the US officially participated in the forum," she noted.

"As far as I know, the consul for political and economic issues of the US Consulate General in Vladivostok, Mr. Nathan Halat, was accredited to the forum," the spokeswoman said.

"Discouraging others, but going themselves. Such are specific features of the American administration," the diplomat stressed.

The Eastern Economic Forum was held in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok on September 2-3.

No impact on Russia

"If we talk about the effect of these sanctions, it was zero. And I think even the White House understands this," Zakharova went on to say.

"They failed to bring down our economy. The policy of isolating Russia has utterly failed," she added.

Seventeen new names, including Eduard Basurin, a representative of the DPR operational command, have been added to the U.S. sanctions list of Russian and Ukrainian nationals.

Sanctions have been imposed on another 19 Russian companies, including the Sovmortrans, a group specializing in multi-modal and intermodal transportation.

The US list of sectoral sanctions has been expanded by a number of sister structures of the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, including Gazprom-Media, and regional branches of Gazprombank, which has been on the US sanctions list since 2014.