- Russia called the new US sanctions counterproductive for peace in Ukraine.
- The USA imposed sanctions on the oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil.
- Russia has said it reserves the right to respond appropriately.
Russia considers the new US sanctions imposed by the US on the two largest Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, to be extremely counterproductive to the search for peace in Ukraine. said the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Marija Zacharovová, on Thursday. According to the TASS agency, she also criticized the adoption of new measures by the EU. According to Zakharova, Moscow has the right to an appropriate reaction with regard to its interests. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
Russia “has built up a strong immunity to Western restrictions and will continue to confidently develop its economic and energy potential”. said Zakharova at the press briefing, adding that, according to her, the new measures will not cause any problems for Russia. She added that Moscow’s goals in Ukraine, which has been resisting the invasion of Russian troops for more than three years, remain unchanged.
After imposing new anti-Russian sanctions, which he had been postponing for several months, US President Donald Trump also announced the cancellation of the planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which was to be held in Budapest. According to him, organizing such a meeting at this moment did not seem right to Trump.
“I didn’t feel like we were getting where we needed to be. So I canceled it, but we’ll see each other in the future.” said Trump during a meeting with the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Mark Rutte at the White House.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared on Thursday night that despite the US decision to impose new sanctions on Russia, Washington is still interested in meeting and cooperating with Moscow’s representatives.
In order of the 19th set of anti-Russian sanctions that the EU adopted on Thursday morning, includes a gradual ban on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia. In addition, it is focused on five Russian banks, the so-called the Russian shadow fleet, crypto exchanges and entities in India and China. The EU also restricts the movement of Russian diplomats in the Schengen area.
“Russia reserves the right to respond to any hostile actions by the European Union, even if they are clearly unsuccessful attempts to harm us, in a way that we consider most beneficial to us. We will respond, as always, appropriately and thoughtfully, taking into account our core interests.” she stated Zakharova.
CHINA CONDEMNED US AND EU SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA
On Thursday, China criticized the sanctions of the United States and the European Union against Russia. American sanctions on the two largest Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil according to the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kuo Jia-chun they have “no basis in international law”. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency. “China firmly opposes unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law and are not authorized by the United Nations Security Council,” Kuo said when asked about US sanctions.
The US announced the mentioned sanctions on Wednesday, and President Donald Trump also confirmed that the planned meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, which was supposed to take place in Budapest, had been cancelled. In response to Trump’s comment that Chinese President Xi Jinping could have a lot of leverage with Putin in trying to end the war in Ukraine, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said “dialogue and negotiations are the only viable way out of the Ukraine crisis.”
According to Kuo, Beijing is very unhappy with the 19th package of EU sanctions officially adopted on Thursday, which also targets entities in China. “China is neither the creator of the Ukrainian crisis nor a party to it,” stated the spokesman. “The European side is not in a position to make irresponsible statements about the normal exchange and cooperation between Chinese and Russian enterprises,” he claims. At the same time he urged Brussels to stop making China a problem and promised Beijing all the necessary measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests.
China is a major Russian trading partner and claims to maintain a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. She has never condemned this war, which began in February 2022 with the invasion of Russian troops on Ukrainian territory. A Ukrainian intelligence official said this month that China is providing Russia with intelligence that helps it launch missile strikes on Ukrainian territory with greater precision. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky already claimed in April that China supplies Russia with weapons.
