MOSCOW: Moscow on Friday promised a “tough response” to new US sanctions imposed on seven of Russia’s most influential oligarchs following the diplomatic crisis sparked by the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal. “We will not let the current attack, or any new anti-Russian attack, go without a tough response,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement, after the US sanctions which also target 12 companies owned by the oligarchs, 17 senior Russian officials and a state-owned arms export company. (Reuters photo)Earlier Friday the United States struck at the heart of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, stoking a diplomatic crisis that some have dubbed a new Cold War. Russia’s state arms exporter, was also added to the sanctions list. But the Russian foreign ministry insisted in its statement that “no amount of pressure will make Russia deviate from the path it has chosen.” The measures were taken under a US law passed to punish Russia for its alleged bid to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, engage in cyber-warfare and intervene in Ukraine and Syria.

Source: New Strait Times April 06, 2018 21:11 UTC