The latest sanctions by the United States and the European Union against Russian individuals and organizations are intervention in Russia’s internal affairs, Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov told the media on Wednesday, adding that such restrictions were unacceptable.
"We regard any such restrictions as absolutely unacceptable," Peskov said. "They cause considerable harm to relations, which are already in a deplorable condition."
The spokesman explained that he was referring to Russia’s relations with the United States and the European Union. "They [sanctions] are nothing but interference in Russia’s internal affairs," he stressed.
He added though that the new sanctions introduced against several Russian citizens essentially duplicate the restrictions placed on them under the Russian legislation.
"If one talks about specific people against whom the so-called sanctions, or rather restrictions, were introduced, then it is practically a duplication of those restrictions that are placed on these people under the Russian laws," the Kremlin representative said.
The US Department of the Treasury on Tuesday announced that it had blacklisted seven Russian officials, including Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, Head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, Head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Alexander Kalashnikov and Director of the National Guard Viktor Zolotov, over the situation involving blogger Alexey Navalny. Sanctions were also imposed on several organizations. The European Union also officially introduced new sanctions over the Navalny case on Tuesday.
