MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. Russia has to respond to any sanctions in order to protect its interests, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

He did not provide an answer when asked whether Moscow planned to impose retaliatory sanctions on Western countries if they introduced new restrictions. "I don’t think that it [the question] is proper," Peskov noted.

However, he pointed out that "one always responds to sanctions in a tit-for-tat or an asymmetric manner, but in a way to protect one’s own interests".