MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Moscow will respond to the European Union’s ninth package of sanctions based on its national interests, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Grushko told TASS on Saturday.

"As for retaliatory measures, they will clearly be based first and foremost on our national interests. Numerous steps have already been taken to ensure Russia’s sovereignty, including in key areas. If they [the EU - TASS] take measures that primarily affect their own interests, it’s their choice," he said.

The senior diplomat emphasized that there was "nothing surprising" in the EU’s new package of sanctions. "The EU continues to pursue the path of self-destruction," Grusnko noted. "At the end of the day, it is the governments of EU member states that will have to answer to their people for high inflation rates, deindustrialization, an energy crisis and all other negative consequences of this policy of refusal to cooperate with Russia," he added.

The EU on Friday adopted another package of sanctions on Russia, the ninth since the beginning of the year. A total of 141 individuals and 49 entities were blacklisted. The EU also introduced restrictions on three Russian banks along with a number of export bans. In addition, a procedure was launched to force four Russian TV channels off the air in the European Union.