NOVOBUREISKY VILLAGE /Amur region/, August 3. /TASS/. Moscow will uphold and protect its interests, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. "The fact that Russia will uphold its interests, protect its interests should not be questioned by anyone," the Kremlin spokesman noted.
Peskov declined to comment on remarks by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev who stated that Washington had actually declared a trade war on Russia by tightening sanctions against it.
"I am not empowered to comment on statements made by the prime minister. I advise you to contact my counterpart (the prime-minister’s spokesperson) Natalya Timakova," he said.
US President Donald Trump earlier signed into law a bill specifying tougher sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea. However, in his statement after signing it, Trump described the document as seriously flawed and noted that it includes a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions. He also expressed the hope that its implementation will not hinder work with Washington’s European allies to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.
Commenting on the newly-signed law, Russian Prime Minister noted on his Facebook page that "a full-fledged trade war had been declared on Russia." He added that these measures would be pointless and that Russia would continue to develop in spite of them.