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Russia to strike back at U.S. sanctions while leaving door open for dialogue

13 September 2014 02:05 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Russia warns to impose anti- sanctions soon, but leaves the door open for dialogue and cooperation, Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"We consider the new anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the U.S. as a new hostile act," the ministry said in a statement. "The U.S. increases pressure on Russia through sanctions, staking on escalation of the Ukraine conflict."

The ministry reiterated that Russia is forced, rather than willing, to take anti-sanction measures, which will certainly not take long to be introduced.

Russia would not give in to the containment policy of the United States, which tried to use a "controllable Ukraine" to achieve its geopolitical ambitions, said the Foreign Ministry.

"The White House should understand that sanctions will not make Russia change its principles," said the ministry, warning that the action would harm not only the interests of the U.S. businesses, but also bilateral cooperation to fight international terrorism and drug trafficking, according to the Itar-Tass news agency.

Meanwhile, Moscow is "leaving the door open for constructive and honest bilateral cooperation, including contribution to settlement of the Ukraine crisis, if the U.S. administration is ready," said a statement by the ministry.

The U.S. on Friday slapped tougher sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis, targeting Russia's largest bank and leading energy and defense technology firms, following the European Union's announcement Thursday of new restrictive measures against Russia's financial and energy sectors.

The new round of Western sanctions against Moscow came despite the fact that the Ukrainian government and rebels inked a ceasefire agreement last week in Minsk, capital of Belarus