Russia rejects US ‘hostile’ sanctions, vows to retaliate

Moscow, Russia reacted to the new US sanctions imposed on it, late Tuesday. It described the decisions led by the Biden administration as ‘hostile.’

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs vowed last Tuesday that it would surely retaliate against the US restrictions, describing the move as a “counterproductive” act that only worsened the bilateral relations.

“This is just a pretext for the continuing undisguised interference in our domestic affairs, and we will not accept this,” said spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in a statement. “Based on the principle of reciprocity, we will respond but not necessarily with symmetrical measures.”

She emphasized that every attempt at the sanctions will fail, as it always has in the past. Although Zakharova did not speak more on how exactly Russia intends to respond.

“Regardless of the U.S.’s enthusiasm for sanctions, we will continue to consistently and resolutely uphold our national interests and rebuff any aggression. We urge our colleagues not to play with fire,” Zakharova said. “If the U.S. is not ready for an equitable and reasonable dialogue this is their choice.”

Russia’s reaction and comments followed the United States' new sanctions on Russia over suspicions of poisoning opposition leader Alexei Navalny last year. The U.S. imposed restrictions against 7 senior Russian government officials and on 14 entities based on the alleged involvement with “activities in support of Russia’s weapons of mass destruction programs and chemical weapons activities,” the U.S. State Department said.

Among those blacklisted were Alexander Bortnikov, director of the FSB, Andrei Yarin, chief of Kremlin’s domestic policy directorate; Aleksey Krivoruchko and Pavel Popov, deputy ministers of defense. Including Sergey Kiriyenko, Putin’s first deputy chief of staff; Alexander Kalashnikov, director of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service; and Igor Krasnov, Prosecutor-General.

In August last year, Navalny, who is a firm critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin was poisoned with a military-grade Novichok nerve agent. He was then flown to Germany for immediate treatment. After his recovery from the poison, the Kremlin denied being involved in the poisoning after Navalny insisted it was politically moved.

When Navalny returned to Russia in January, he was detained and charged for violating his probation for a previous sentence that was suspended. He argued that he couldn’t attend the hearing during an early trial in February, as he was in a coma caused by the poisoning. Despite his arguments, he was sentenced to 31/2 years in jail, with 10 months deducted house arrest.

The U.S. has since called for the immediate release of Navalny and has held imposing sanctions towards Russia.

The U.S., together with the EU coordinated the sanctions. The EU issued its own sanction on Tuesday, towards four senior Russian government officials that were “responsible for serious human rights violations” and involved in the poisoned opposition leader’s “arbitrary arrest, prosecution and sentencing.”

The EU sanctions followed earlier sanctions that were imposed last October when the union restricted travel and froze the assets of six Russian government officials and one entity.

The U.S. sanctions on Russia have been welcomed with mixed reactions, as senior emerging-market strategist at Bluebay Asset Timothy Ash called the move a “total joke.” He said the U.S. new sanctions didn’t hurt Russia in any way, “the market likes it, thinking that these are very soft sanctions,” citing a rally in the Russian ruble.

“The Biden administration sends a poor signal to Moscow from the start that it is not willing to bear the cost of countering Russian aggression,” Ash said. “The West has to learn that we have to be prepared to accept there is a price for countering Russian aggression.”