New US sanctions against Russia showed the Joe Biden administration’s “lack of political will and unwillingness” to mend the Moscow-Washington relations on a partnership basis, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova made the comments on Saturday a day after the US announced new sanctions against Russian individuals and entities over the alleged poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, reports Xinhua news agency.
Zakharova considered such “hostile actions” contrary to the spirit of the Geneva summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Biden in June.
The new sanctions “under far-fetched pretexts” were announced against the backdrop of “the largest foreign policy failure for the US in Afghanistan”, she noted.
“It is useless to put pressure on Russia and our response, as always, will be tough and adequate,” Zakharova added.
On Friday, the Department of the Treasury announced that it designated nine Russian individuals and two Russian entities “involved in Navalny’s poisoning or Russia’s chemical weapons program”.
Many designated are members of Russia’s Federal Security Service.
In addition, the Department of State designated two Russian Ministry of Defence scientific laboratories that have engaged in activities to develop Russia’s chemical weapons capabilities.
In a separate move, the Department of State said on Friday it had submitted a report to Congress pursuant to the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act of 2019 (PEESA), as amended.
The report lists one Russian vessel and two Russian persons involved in the 1,230-km Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.