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Russian senator considers US sanctions as sacred ritual

The only goal of Washington’s sanctions policy is to show everyone who is the boss, Konstantin Kosachev said

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Washington’s sanctions policy has become chaotic, it is only aimed at restraining Russia and cheering Europe up, as doubts about the value of trans-Atlantic solidarity have been growing, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev said on Saturday.

"The US has been churning out sanctions, taking their number to new heights. The State and Treasury departments have been making sanctions decisions, which has become a sacred ritual and nothing more," Kosachev wrote on Facebook.

He added that since the early 1970s, the US Congress had passed more than 500 bills concerning sanctions against other countries, while there had also been presidential decrees.

"Washington’s sanctions policy has become chaotic… Sanctions are being imposed in every field where US interests need to be protected. And no one actually remembers what it all began with and why it is happening. The only goal is to show everyone who is the boss," the Russian senator noted.

According to Kosachev, the US seeks to "restrain Russia and at the same time cheer Europe up, as doubts about the value of trans-Atlantic solidarity have been growing. It is a one-way street and it will not lead Europe to success," he added.

New US sanctions

According to earlier reports, the US Department of the Treasury announced the expansion of the list of Russian individuals and companies subject to sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukrainian crisis.

The extended list particularly includes individuals and companies allegedly involved in the delivery of the Siemens turbines to Crimea - Alexei Mordashov’s company Power Machines, which has been cooperating with Siemens in the production of turbines, as well as the Technopromexport engineering company (part of the Rostec State Corporation), which is building two power plants in Crimea. Technopromexport Director General Sergei Topor-Gilka, Deputy Energy Minister Andrei Cherezov and Head of the Department of Operational Control and Management in the Electric Power Industry at the Russian Energy Ministry Yevgeny Grabchak are among the blacklisted individuals.

Armenia has to define CSTO’s zone of responsibility on its territory, says Lavrov

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Syrian ministry says Israeli jets struck air defense facilities in country’s south

Earlier, the media reported that one of the strikes hit Tha'lah Military Airbase, with several explosions going off there

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Russian Aerospace Forces strike five militant hideouts in Syria’s Homs

Yury Popov said that aircraft of the so-called international anti-terrorism coalition, led by the United States, continue to set dangerous precedents in skies above Syria

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"We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack," a senior Iranian official reported

Hezbollah warns Israel it will fight back if attacks on Lebanon continue

The Lebanese Shiite organization "would not accept that the Israelis transgress the rules of engagement that are currently set in the south" of Lebanon

No foreign state attacks Iran — TV

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There is still no full clarity regarding the future of Ukraine's western regions, the Russian foreign minister went on to say

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Chinese analyst sees US veto on Palestine as reflection of arrogance, double standards

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