WASHINGTON, April 13. /TASS/. Washington’s new sanctions show its inability to make Moscow abandon the protection of its national interests, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov pointed out.

"Washington's convulsive attempts to ‘punish’ Russia merely confirm the inability of the US authorities to make our country abandon the protection of our vital national interests," Antonov said in a statement, commenting on new US sanctions against Russian individuals and entities.

"One such example is the US efforts to impede the active strengthening of traditional spiritual and moral values in the Russian Federation. Bringing under the restrictions children's and youth patriotic organization says a lot. In fact, the administration openly demonstrates the initially failed intention to kill at its source the love of Russian children to the Motherland, as well as their desire to form their own worldview that differs from the externally imposed ‘standards’," the envoy noted.

"At the same time, Washington has again violated the principles of the energy markets functioning. The imposition of sanctions against Rosatom entities is an attempt to once again circumvent such a ‘convention’ as the rules of fair competition on foreign marketplaces," the diplomat emphasized.

"Apparently, the windfall profits of US oil and gas companies, that ‘skim the cream’ from the terrorist attacks against the pipelines of the Nord Stream system and the collapse of energy ties between Russia and Europe, do not give rest to the nuclear industry. It is worth noting that the European allies of the United States are not at all impressed with another sanctions thrust by Washington, designed to complicate the interactions of ‘third’ countries with Russian counterparties as much as possible. After all, it is no secret to anyone that the economic prosperity of European countries was largely based on uninterrupted supplies of cheap and high-quality energy resources from the Russian Federation," Antonov stressed.

"Be that as it may, the unfriendly steps taken by the administration can not influence the approaches and stance of our country. They will only cause new tangible damage to the business reputation of the United States in the eyes of the rest of the world," the Russian ambassador concluded.

Earlier, Washington announced new sanctions on Moscow, which particularly target Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, the youth military-patriotic public movement Yunarmiya, the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation's subsidiary Rusatom Overseas, and entities linked to businessman Alisher Usmanov.