A Russian official said Wednesday that the country’s response to recent U.S. sanctions would be “precise and painful,” Reuters reported.
Valentina Matvienko, the speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament said: “Russia’s response to the sanctions, our so-called counter-sanctions, will be precise, painful, and without question sensitive for exactly those countries that imposed them (the sanctions) on Russia.”
“Sanctions are a double-edged sword and those who impose them should understand that sanctions against countries, especially those like Russia, will carry with them risks of serious consequences for those who impose them,” Matvienko added.
Earlier this month, the Trump Administration issued fresh sanctions against nearly 40 top Russian business leaders, officials and companies for their destabilizing activities. One official said the Russian government is “reckless and irresponsible.”
Five entities and 19 individuals – including the 13 indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his Russia investigation – were targeted, including members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s faction: billionaire Oleg Deripaska, Putin adviser Suleiman Kerimov and Kirill Shamalov, Putin’s son-in-law.
Other sanctions were issued in March against Russia for interfering in elections and for continuing cyberattacks.
When the latest sanctions were released in response to Putin’s “malign activities,” warnings rang out from Moscow about retaliation.
One retaliatory possibility is that Russians may ban or restrict imports of U.S. goods and services, ranging from medicines to software and rocket engines.
Unless Russia provokes the U.S., no further sanctions are expected, a senior U.S. administration official said on Monday.
President Trump on Monday said he would not be announcing any additional sanctions on Russia, after U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley prematurely had said over the weekend before any plans were actually finalized or approved by the President.
