The State Department hopes that the issue of imposing sanctions against Russia will remain a hypothesis

“We hope this (imposition of sanctions. -

) will remain hypothetical,” Price said to RIA Novosti.

He explained that restrictions would not have to be introduced in the event that the United States authorities see from Russia "continued involvement in diplomacy."

"We are ready ... to continue diplomacy," Price stressed.

According to him, in the event of an escalation of the situation around Ukraine, the Russian side will face serious consequences.

Earlier, American senators proposed introducing restrictions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and a number of high-ranking officials in the event of an aggravation of the situation around Ukraine.

Later it became known that the senators also proposed to impose restrictions on a number of financial institutions in Russia, including Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank.

Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at the IMEMO RAS, in an interview with RT, spoke about a project prepared by a group of US Democratic senators, which proposes to impose sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and a number of high-ranking officials in the event of an aggravation of the situation around Ukraine.