Moscow vows 'painful' response to future US financial sanctions -

by Eli Leon, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Tensions between Moscow and Washington grow as U.S. and U.K. mull imposing fresh sanctions on Syria and its allies • Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warns tougher Western sanctions will prompt "asymmetrical and aggressive moves."

Russia will use "painful" countermeasures to respond to any new financial sanctions imposed on it by the U.S. and other Western countries, a top Russian official warned Wednesday.

Britain and the United States said on Sunday they were considering imposing additional sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad and his supporters for their actions in Syria's long-running civil war.

"If the U.S. opts to further toughen sanctions in defiance of common sense and in disregard of its experience that has already been quite painful for them, then we will find measures in our toolbox that will have a painful impact, particularly in terms of America's positioning in the world," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by the state-run RT news network as saying Wednesday.

Ryabkov was speaking at a meeting of the deputies of the Russian State Duma ahead of a vote on a bill suspending the Russian-American deal on reprocessing weapons-grade plutonium. He told lawmakers that the toughening of U.S. sanctions against Russia would lead to "asymmetrical and aggressive moves."

According to the nuclear agreement, Moscow and Washington are required to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium taken from decommissioned warheads originally intended to be used in nuclear weapons. 

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to waive the implementation of the deal amid growing tensions with Washington after the Russia-U.S.-brokered cease-fire in Syria's embattled city of Aleppo collapsed in September.

The escalating violence in Syria has exacerbated the already fragile relations between Washington and Moscow, which have been trading barbs over the collapsed truce. The U.S. accused Russia of not living up to its commitments under the Sept. 9 deal to halt fighting and ensure that aid reached the besieged population, while Russia said U.S.-led coalition strikes against the Islamic State group killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in eastern Syria.

Eli Leon, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=37273

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