“They won’t solve anything”: Russian diplomats reacted to new Western sanctions against Russia

Sanctions against Russia in connection with the recognition of the DPR and LPR “will not solve anything,” said Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov.

According to him, these restrictive measures can have a negative impact on the global financial and energy markets.

“It’s hard to imagine that anyone in Washington is counting on Russia to revise its foreign policy under the threat of restrictions,” Antonov wrote on the embassy’s Facebook page.

According to him, Russia has already learned how to develop under sanctions regimes.

“The United States will not stand aside either, where ordinary citizens will feel all the consequences of rising prices,” Antonov concluded.

Commenting on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine, Antonov noted that the US authorities did not convince Kiev to comply with the Minsk agreements, but only encouraged them to do nothing.

“For seven years, the Americans did nothing to convince the Ukrainian leadership of the need to implement the Minsk agreements,” Antonov said.

“Having climbed onto the shoulders of the United States, Kiev believed in the possibility of resolving the intra-Ukrainian conflict by force.”

It was enough for the US authorities to force Kiev to sit down at the negotiating table with representatives of the DPR and LPR, he concluded.

The Russian ambassador to Canada, Oleg Stepanov, also agreed with Antonov's position.

He recalled that the resolutions of the UN Security Council are binding on all states in the world.

“It is unfortunate that Ukraine did not comply with them for all seven years, and a number of countries, especially Western countries that have a special interest in what is happening inside and around Ukraine, could not force it to do this,” RIA Novosti quoted Stepanov as saying.

The diplomat stressed that the current situation is observed precisely because of Kiev's refusal to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk package of measures.

At the same time, Stepanov expressed confidence that Russia would respond to the sanctions in accordance with the principle of reciprocity.

Recall that the United States announced new sanctions against Russia after Moscow recognized the independence of the DNR and LNR.

The restrictions outlined by the head of the White House, Joe Biden, in particular, affected VEB and Promsvyazbank.

Sanctions have also been imposed on Russia's sovereign debt, the CSKA football club and "representatives of the Russian elites", including the sons of FSB director Alexander Bortnikov, first deputy head of the presidential administration Sergei Kiriyenko and former Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the sanctions should have a deterrent effect.

According to her, the United States has developed a number of other restrictions in case the situation worsens.

According to the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, the EU approved sanctions against State Duma deputies who voted for the decision on the independence of the Donbass republics.

The list also includes 27 individuals and legal entities, including banks and organizations that finance Russia's operations in the Donbass.

Also on russian.rt.com Economist Ginko commented on US sanctions against two Russian banks

Along with this, the EU banned its entrepreneurs from doing business with the LPR and DPR and limited Russia's access to the financial and capital markets.

London, in turn, imposed sanctions on five Russian banks - Rossiya, Promsvyazbank, Joint Stock Company Commercial Bank Industrial Savings Bank, Genbank and the Black Sea Development Bank.

British sanctions have also been imposed on entrepreneurs Gennady Timchenko, Boris and Igor Rotenberg.

According to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, these individuals are prohibited from entering the UK, and their assets located in the United Kingdom will be frozen.

In addition, Canada, Australia and Japan announced sanctions against the Russian Federation.

These restrictions also apply to the Russian public debt, large banks, a number of individuals and structures from the DNR and LNR.

Andrei Klimov, head of the Federation Council commission for the protection of state sovereignty, said in an interview with RT that Japan's sanctions against Russia are not surprising.

“This is a collective decision.

It was adopted within the framework of the Big Seven, that is, countries that consider themselves to be the core of the Western world.

And there is nothing to be surprised.

This is not the first time Japan has joined in various anti-Russian antics,” the senator said.

He noted that "in this way it is very difficult to establish good neighborly relations."

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said earlier that the anti-Russian sanctions of Western countries are illegitimate.

“We believe these sanctions are illegitimate.

This is first.

We have long understood that this is the only tool of the leaders of Western countries against us, in order to restrain our development, ”she said in a comment to BBC television.