Kremlin: Prolonged U.S. Sanctions against Russia Affecting World

The United States’ sanctions against Russia are not only illegal, but also affecting the world, Russia’s presidential press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Saturday in a comment on Washington’s decision to extend the sanctions against Russia.

“We have never initiated those sanctions, and we consider them illegal, affecting not only the people of our country, but the entire world,” he said, according to TASS.

The press secretary continued by saying sanctions and their extension is not on the Kremlin’s agenda.

On Friday, President Donald Trump extended sanctions against Russia and Russian individuals by another year. The measures were first imposed by former President Barack Obama in March 2014, in response to the political crisis in Ukraine.

In a letter required under the National Emergencies Act, Trump notified Congress that the White House will continue treating the situation in Ukraine as “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” as defined by Obama’s Executive Order 13660, dated March 6, 2014.

The U.S. has been gradually expanding the list of people and entities under its Russia sanctions over the years. The latest addition of 21 individuals and nine companies was announced in January 2016.

Restrictive measures against Russia applied by the United States on March 6, 2014, March 16, 2014, March 20, 2014, and December 19, 2014, “must continue in effect beyond March 6, 2018 for one more year,” the White House statement said.

Sanctions introduced earlier by the United Sates applied to a range of Russian individuals, including officials, and government officials of Ukraine’s former President of Viktor Yanukovich.

Furthermore, restrictive measures covered several major Russian businessmen, certain companies and administrations of self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.