MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/. Moscow expects new anti-Russian sanctions from Washington, but it is difficult to say yet what form they will take, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said on the YouTube channel Soloviov Live on Saturday.

"We are waiting for the [US] sanctions. It is hard to say now what they will be like. They are having an argument about who will hit Russia in a stronger and more painful way," he said.

According to the Russian diplomat, the US Congress debates on a daily basis "with full consensus" that sanctions are much needed, but disagreements are about the scale and timeframe of those sanctions.

"It just proves that the level of diplomatic skills of the United States, which cannot solve pressing international security issues at the negotiation table, is decreasing," he stressed.

Drafting sanctions

Earlier, a group of Democrats under the chairman of the Senate’s foreign relations committee, Robert Menendez (Democrat from New Jersey), submitted to the upper house of the US Congress the Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022. It envisages the introduction of sanctions against the Russian president, prime minister, foreign and defense ministers, chief of the General Staff, and other senior military officials. Also, some restrictions may be applied to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

The West and Kiev have recently been spreading allegations about Russia’s potential ‘invasion’ of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded", serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such allegations and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.