MOSCOW, May 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Foreign Ministry believes that the US decision to impose anti-Syrian restrictions against the Russian bank Tempbank is “absolutely unacceptable”, ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement Tuesday.

“We would like to remind the American side once again that the language of sanctions is useless and counterproductive with Russia. Should the administration keep following the vicious path, this will negatively affect our joint work on Syria and the general atmosphere of Russian-American relations that are not going through the best times now,” Lukashevich said.

“Should the administration keep following the vicious path, this will negatively affect our joint work on Syria and the general atmosphere of Russian-American relations that are not going through the best times now,” Lukashevich said.

“The sanctions list against the Syrian regime and its supporters published by the US Department of the Treasury continues Washington’s course for exterritorial use of its national laws in violation of all generally accepted norms of international law,” the diplomat said.

“We are still surprised at the undisguised cynicism and double standards of the American administration that prefers to turn a blind eye to bloody outrages of Syrian opposition militants and simultaneously punish Syrian social and economic bloc ministers accusing them of involvement in rampancy of violence and instability in the country,” he said.

Moscow “believes the decision to apply anti-Syrian restrictions to the OJSC Moscow Joint-Stock Bank Tempbank on the grounds that it renders the Syrian government financial services to be absolutely unacceptable”.

“The UN Security Council has adopted no resolutions banning cooperation with Damascus, so bilateral economic and financial ties are fully legitimate,” Lukashevich said. “Their legality cannot be doubted by anyone.