Moscow Slams New US Bill On Russia Sanctions Over Kerch Strait Incident As Senseless

Russia qualifies Washington's intention to impose new sanctions on Russian officials over last year's Kerch Strait incident, during which three Ukrainian vessels violated Russian maritime border, as senseless and inefficient, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2019) Russia qualifies Washington's intention to impose new sanctions on Russian officials over last year's Kerch Strait incident, during which three Ukrainian vessels violated Russian maritime border, as senseless and inefficient, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Friday.

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has recently submitted to the House of Representatives a bill for imposing sanctions on 24 senior officials of the Russian Federal Security Service and their associates over their alleged role in detaining last November 22 Ukrainian sailors and two security officers who were on board of the Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Strait.

"There have been already twenty packages of such sanctions ... Our position remains unchanged. These are absolutely inefficient and senseless actions that undermine international relations and international law and promote mistrust between countries, especially such countries as Russia and the United States, which are responsible for the state of strategic stability and security," Grushko said, commenting on the bill.

The official noted that the US foreign policy had fallen victim to its domestic policy.