Kremlin: Russia is preparing retaliatory measures in response to US sanctions
The Russian Foreign Ministry is preparing to take countermeasures after the U.S. Department of the Treasury added four Russian citizens to the North Korea sanctions list, stated Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, as reported by the press service of the ministry.
"The trend that had been set by the Barack Obama administration for a consistent undermining of bilateral relations has resumed. This is already the fourth such excess since the arrival of a new team into the White House. The reasoning of American representatives about the desire to stabilize bilateral relations sounds very unconvincing against such a depressing background," Ryabkov noted.
"Russia has always been in favor of resolving disagreements through dialogue, and the language of sanctions is unacceptable for Moscow," Ryabkov claimed, adding that "Nevertheless, we do not lose hope that the voice of reason will eventually prevail and that our American colleagues will realize the futility and detrimental nature of the further unwinding of the sanctions spiral. Meanwhile, we have begun to work out the inevitable retaliatory measures in this situation," the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said.