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Lavrov, Pompeo to discuss sanctions, visas at Friday meeting — ambassador

Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said that new US sanctions against Moscow represent "another destructive step"

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

WASHINGTON, September 26. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will start their meeting on Friday with the discussion of visas and sanctions, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in a statement on Thursday.

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Russia preparing surprise measures for US amid visa spat, says top diplomat

"We expected that the diplomats would be able to concentrate more on the ways to improve the relations between our states. Instead, they will be forced to begin the talks with a discussion of artificially created issues — the issues of visas and sanctions," Antonov said commenting on the US sanctions introduced against Russia. He added that the sanctions were announced the day before the meeting between Lavrov and Pompeo in New York.

Antonov described the new US sanctions as another destructive step. "Today, we have witnessed another destructive step from the side of our American partners — restrictions have been introduced against several Russian citizens, companies and vessels allegedly involved in the deliveries of jet fuel to our troops in Syria. The motive is not new: Washington has always implemented a very particular policy against the absolutely lawful, and most importantly, successful Russian fight against international terrorism in Syria," he noted.

"We have repeatedly stated that we do not accept such methods. We do not recognize unilateral restrictive measures. The United States continues to prefer the language of sanctions to constructive dialogue and cooperation with Russia on issues important for global stability," the ambassador concluded.

On Thursday, the US blacklisted five vessels, one enterprise and three individuals for delivering fuel to Syria for the Russian Armed Forces. The sanctions list includes Maritime Assistance LLC, which, according to US officials, is operating as a front company for OJSC Sovfracht. Three Maritime Assistance employees (Ivan Okorokov, Karen Stepanyan and Ilya Loginov) have been sanctioned as well.

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