MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. Inclusion of the senior officials of Russian law enforcement agencies in the US sanction lists will affect joint efforts to counteract international terrorism, Yevgeny Serebrennikov, first deputy chairman of the defense and security committee in the upper house of Russian parliament.
On Friday, the US authorities added a new group of Russian officials to its sanction blacklist. The Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, the chairman of foreign policy committee in the upper house of Russian parliament, Konstantin Kosachov, and the director of the of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications [Roskomnadzor], Alexander Zharov are among the blacklisted individuals.
The new installment of Washington’s sanctions embraces 38 individuals and legal entities, including the weaponry trading company Rosoboronexport, the Russian Financial Corporation, and Rusal nonferrous metals manufacturer.
"If you take the individuals who stand at the head of law enforcement organizations, this [sanctions] will have some impact on the joint efforts to counteract international terrorism," Serebrennikov said. "Security services have a rich enough experience of joint activities but the sanctions that have been introduced now will do their part in complicating the work that seemed to be getting off the ground."
Serebrennikov also mentioned the blacklisting of Rosoboronexport saying this looked like illegal struggle for the markets of weaponry.
"The blacklisting of Rosoboronexport signals continuation of the US policy, which they espouse not only while putting pressure on Russia but also in struggle for the markets," he said.
"Washington thus seeks to expand the access to the markets for its weaponry trading companies and to restrict Russia’s operations there in one way or another," Serebrennikov said.
He said the introduction of these sanctions was a very unpleasant factor but it did not mean anything critical for Russia.
"I hope the measures making up for the damage these sanctions have done to us will be taken," Serebrennikov said.