US will not change Russia’s political course with restrictions – Foreign Ministry

“All charges voiced by the US side are ephemeral but the restrictions introduced today are very real, even though they are largely a copy of the already existing ones… And the exclusion of supplies related to space research programs and aircraft safety from the sanctions regime  only confirm the hypocrisy and bias of the American authorities,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Monday.

Zakharova also said that, in its latest anti-Russian move, the United States used “a completely invented” connection to the Skripal case, the investigation of which has not ended yet, in order to blame Moscow.

“They accuse us of complicity with the Salisbury tragedy and question the destruction of all stockpiles of its chemical weapons by Russia. Following the already established tradition they present no proof, but they demand a “wholehearted confession” from Moscow as well as access to the chemical sites,” the Russian diplomat said.

“We cannot see Washington’s decision as anything else but part of a targeted policy seeking to dilute the international structure of chemical weapons control and non-proliferation, including the sphere of chemical weapons ban,” Zakharova added.

Unlike the US, Russia remains true to its obligations – its chemical arsenals have been completely destroyed and this was confirmed by international experts, including American ones, the spokesperson noted.

“Through such steps Washington only further complicates the possibilities of dialogue on existing problems in both bilateral and multilateral formats,” she added.

The Russian diplomat also described as “sad” the fact that US ruling elites could not understand or accept the simple fact that no sanctions or restrictions can force Russia to leave the path of defending its national interests.

Also on Monday, the Russian embassy in the US posted a similar comment on Facebook. In it, Russian diplomats called the new round of US-imposed restrictions illegitimate and one-sided and noted that the situation looked very much like deliberate destruction of the fundamental basis of global security.

The embassy also stated that US mainstream media played a major role in the developments by spreading absurd accusations against Russia.

Russian diplomats also reiterated the Foreign Ministry’s statement that no outside restrictions would ever change Moscow’s determination to follow its own course in international relations.

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