MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Russia’s State Duma (lower house) Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has slammed Washington’s sanctions against Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov under the Magnitsky Act as absurd, warning that Russia will respond tit-for-tat soon.
"The United States, which declares aloud that it is the key anti-terror fighter, takes absurd decisions instead of building cooperation with those who have been successfully solving these tasks for a long time," Volodin said commenting on the US authorities’ recent decisions against Kadyrov and four other Russians.
The lower house speaker stressed that Russia will soon give "a tit-for-tat response and the principle of reciprocity will be observed."
The US sanctions policy is unacceptable, Volodin said. He noted that Kadyrov had been elected as the head of the North Caucasus republic by people, holds the title of the Hero of Russia and has contributed to the fight against international terrorism. "Kadyrov is making a great effort to save children’s lives by organizing their evacuation from the conflict zones," he said.
On Wednesday, the US Department of the Treasury added five Russian nationals, including Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov, to the sanctions list under the Magnitsky Act. US officials accused Kadyrov of overseeing "an administration involved in disappearances and extrajudicial killings." Now the "Magnitsky list" includes 49 Russians.
Earlier this week, Kadyrov laughed at the US sanctions against him on Instagram: "I have a sleepless night ahead, and tranquilizers won’t help." He also said he would not go to the US "for all the gold reserves in the country.".