MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s possible sanctions against Moscow is “in equal parts hysterical and senseless” measures and will only aggravate Kiev’s situation, a senior Russian lawmaker said Wednesday.
“Kiev’s sanctions against Russia – this is a measure that is in equal parts hysterical and senseless. This will not threaten Moscow but will further deteriorate Ukraine’s situation,” Alexei Pushkov, head of Russia’s lower house Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in his Twitter microblog Wednesday.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed into law a bill that enables Kiev to introduce sanctions against foreign nations, including Russia. The law authorizes the introduction of more than 20 restrictive measures, including a ban on the transit of energy resources.
The Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said last month that the Kiev government has prepared a list of 172 individuals and 65 legal entities from Russia and other states that could become subject to the sanctions.
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said earlier that possible Kiev’s sanctions against Russia will not affect Moscow’s main approach to the crisis in Ukraine.
The United States, the European Union and other countries have already imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia accusing Moscow of supporting eastern Ukraine independence supporters. Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the conflict.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced counter-measures against some countries that imposed sanctions on Russia. The measures banned the import of agricultural and food products from Australia, Canada, the United States, the European Union and Norway for a year.
