Russia will not join talks on criteria for US sanctions to be lifted - diplomat

MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/. Moscow will not join talks on conditions for abolishment of the US sanctions introduced amid the Ukrainian crisis, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Monday. “We do not acknowledge the legitimacy of these sanctions, and we will not join the talks on criteria for abolishing them. Strictly speaking, there are no such proposals,” Ryabkov told Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma. The executive orders signed by US President Barack Obama include formulations in regard to motivation that “are as flexible that if there is a wish, one can make anything out of this,” he said. The high-ranking Russian diplomat also told lawmakers it is wrong to believe that the “US sanctions are a short-term event and that all this will disappear if there is another wind.” “This is a new reality and we will have to deal with this,” Ryabkov said, adding that Russia’s foreign policy, resources issue and other aspects of Russia’s positioning on the international arena need thorough consideration. “The signals from Washington’s officials have been already heard saying: sanctions will be abolished when we see what we want to see. One can suggest that this won’t be an easy way,” he stressed. The West announced new, sectoral, restrictions against Russia in late July, in particular, for what the West claimed was Moscow’s alleged involvement in protests in Ukraine’s southeast. In response, Russia imposed on August 6 a one-year ban on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Australia, Canada, the EU, the United States and Norway. Russia has repeatedly dismissed Western allegations that it could in any way be involved in hostilities in the southeast of Ukraine. Read more