MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. Moscow deplores the decision of Washington to impose sanctions against two Russia-based companies, which allegedly employ North Korean workers in Russia. That is according to a commentary by Russian Foreign Ministry’s Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova the ministry issued on Friday.

"Another decision of the US authorities to impose sanctions against two Russian companies allegedly engaged in the employment of North Korean workers in our country is deplorable," Zakharova said, noting that Washington does not support its accusations with any evidence.

"They reproach Russia of any sins again, this time in violation of UN Security Council resolutions," she noted.

"We resolutely reject these accusations and condemn the practice of extraterritorial application by the United States of its own legal norms, which, moreover, runs counter to the generally accepted provisions of international law. Moreover, there are reasonable concerns about compliance with the requirements of the decisions agreed in the Security Council by Washington itself," the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stressed. She recalled the resumption of sanctions pressure on Iran after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, approved by the UN Security Council resolution 2231.

Zakharova noted that groundless restrictions against Russian companies are "an unsubstantiated discriminatory step by the American administration, which is apparently trying in such an awkward way to divert public attention from its own destructive behavior in the foreign policy arena."

Earlier, the US Treasury Department included two Russia-based companies, the US authorities consider to be involved in the employment of North Korean labor migrants in Russia in the list of sanctions related to North Korean. The restrictions were introduced against Russian construction company Mokran LLC and Korea Cholsan General Trading Corp, a North Korean company operating in Russia.