MOSCOW, March 20. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Sergey Belyakov believes that no trade sanctions will be imposed by the West over Crimea’s reunification with Russia.

“No, we do not expect them at the moment. We will wait for additional information,” he told journalists on Thursday. 

According to previous Itar-Tass reports, Britain and Germany called for more serious restrictions on Russia over the situation in Crimea, expanding the list of sanctions against Russian and Crimean officials, imposed by the European Union on Monday, a spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said after a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The first stage of sanctions included visa restrictions, personal asset freezes and refusal to hold EU-Russia summits.

The United States and the European Union on Monday published lists of a number of Russian and Crimean officials subjected to retaliatory sanctions.

The US list mentions Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov, presidential adviser Sergei Glaziev, head of the State Duma’s CIS affairs committee Leonid Slutsky, Federation Council (upper house) Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, chair of the State Duma’s committee for family, women’s and children’s affairs Yelena Mizulina, Crimea’s Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov, Crimean State Council Speaker Vladimir Konstantinov, as well as the leader of the public movement Ukrainian Choice Viktor Medvedchuk and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.

On the black list of the European Union there are 21 names, including thirteen Russian officials, among them chief of the Federation Council’s defence committee Viktor Ozerov, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council’s international affairs committee Vladimir Dzhabarov, A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov, State Duma Deputy Speaker Sergei Zheleznyak and head of the State Duma’s CIS affairs committee Leonid Slutsky, as well as the commander of the Black Sea Fleet Vice-Admiral Aleksandr Vitko, western military district commander Anatoly Suvorov and southern military district commander Aleksandr Galkin.

The persons blacklisted by the European Union are banned from entering the EU territory for six months. The European Union will also freeze their bank accounts, if such are found in EU banks.

The European Council believes that these officials are personally responsible for the actions undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

US Vice President Joe Biden said the United States and the European Union might adopt a new package of sanctions against Russia, if Moscow continued pursuing a policy similar to its latest steps towards Ukraine.

Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, the spokeswoman for the European Commission said on Wednesday that the European Union had not passed a decision on economic sanctions against Russia yet.

“The issue of proceeding to the next stage of sanctions will be discussed at the summit by European Union heads of state and government of 28 countries,” Hansen said, referring to the summit in Brussels, scheduled for March 20-21, 2014.