WASHINGTON, August 5. /TASS/. The United States purposefully puts pressure on countries friendly to Russia by threatening them with secondary sanctions, Russian Ambassador in Washington Anatoly Antonov told TASS in an interview.

The US Administration follows the course of inflicting losses and damage to Russia "not merely on the battlefield but in every quarter," the Russian diplomat said. "The purposeful work is actually carried with countries that maintain communications with us, so that they do not work, do not be friends, do not communicate with us. They are told, 'if you continue communicating with the Russian Federation, there will be secondary sanctions against you'," Antonov noted.

"This is very clearly seen according to results of our friendship, communications with ambassadors of countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and representatives of the Global South," he added.