"We reject these retaliatory sanctions announced by Russia, as well as other retaliatory Russian sanctions, in particular in the agricultural sector, because they are unjustified," the diplomat said.
According to him, the EU sanctions against Russia and the Russians "are targeted and comply with international law," and the inclusion in the EU lists "is based on clear criteria and legally justified evidence."
At the same time, European sanctions are aimed at "changing certain behavior," he said.
“We were not told to whom specifically and how many EU citizens would be subject to these measures ... We were not told why the Russian Federation took these measures,” Stano added.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow, in response to the EU's actions, expanded the list of EU citizens banned from entering.
The number of persons involved in the Russian list has been brought to par with the existing list of the European Union.
According to the official spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, the European Union "took a number of unfriendly steps towards our country" and Russia warned the EU about the harmfulness of this approach.