MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. Russia assumes that the West’s sanctions pressure will persist, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said, adding that Moscow will draft tit-for-tat measures to the 13th package of the EU’s sanctions.
"We assume that the sanctions pressure will persist, the West does not act in a different way. Tit-for-tat measures will obviously follow," he told reporters when asked a respective question.
Bloomberg news agency reported earlier citing a source that the EU had initiated discussions of the 13th package of anti-Russia sanctions. Potential sanctions planned to be approved by February 24, were discussed on Wednesday at a meeting of the EU committee of permanent representatives, the agency said. Expansion of sanctions lists, additional trade restrictions and measures to counter circumvention of sanctions by Russia were suggested.
Later an EU spokesperson confirmed to reporters in Brussels that the European Union intends to impose more sanctions against Russia by the second anniversary of the start of the special military operation in Ukraine.