© RIA Novosti / Michael KlimentyevRussian President Vladimir Putin, (L) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on 11 September 2014.
"We are sorry that the European Union has adopted a new round of sanctions. We have repeatedly expressed our discontent with the previously-imposed sanctions and our disagreement with them. We also considered them illegal," Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
The EU decision "is absolutely beyond understanding and explanation," Peskov added, especially given Russia's recent efforts to help stop the bloodshed in Ukraine and peacefully resolve the conflict between Kiev and southeastern regions.
Comment: The EU and their masters in the US couldn't care less. They keep using these sanctions as a part of their campaign to demonize Russia and Putin, to remind the world every once in a while how bad Putin is, before their propaganda goes down the memory hole. Never mind the fact that these sanctions keep backfiring and despite the fact that they are based on complete lies.
Putin is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't! Obama readying new sanctions on Russia despite peace agreement in Ukraine
The presidential spokesman stressed that Brussels either fails to see or "is unwilling to see the real situation in Donbass and does not want to get informed about the steps the parties are taking towards settlement."
Moscow regrets that the EU still "prefers talking the language of sanctions," rather than to "contribute to the peaceful settlement"of the conflict, "not in words but in deeds."
"At the same time, it is impossible not to understand that one way or another, European companies will have to pay for those sanctions as well as taxpayers," Peskov said. "This is actually happening already."
© RIA Novosti / Artem ZhitenevMoscow Kremlin.
"Despite the absence of constructivism in Brussels' position, Russia will continue to do everything in its powers to support the implementation of the existing peace plan, as well as the stabilization of the situation in the south-eastern Ukraine as a whole," Peskov said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow will take "appropriate measures" if any new sanctions are imposed against Moscow.This was shortly followed by an announcement by the European Commission's Head, Herman Van Rompuy, that Friday will see a new round of sanctions against Russia come into force.
Brussels has added 24 individuals to its list that blocks travel to the EU and freezes assets. The EU will also halt services Russia needs to extract oil and gas in the Arctic, deep sea, and shale extraction projects.
Three of Russia's major energy companies and the country's three largest defense entities will be restricted from raising long-term debt on European capital markets, Van Rompuy said. Five major Russian state-owned banks will also be banned from any long-term (over 30 days) loans from EU companies.
Major Russian defense companies will be barred from debt refinancing, and the EU will also ban the export of any technology considered to have a military "dual-use" to nine Russian companies.
In response to the EU's previous set of sanctions that targeted banks, energy, and weaponry, Moscow introduced a one-year food embargo against the US, EU, Norway, Australia, and Canada that will block an estimated $9 billion worth of agricultural exports to Russia.
Comment: The sanctions are U.S. imposed as many EU countries have shown reluctance to go along with the sanctions. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted:
"At different international forums, ministers from the countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia, come up to me one by one, taking me aside and asking me confusedly to take it easy and understand; saying that they don't want to but are compelled to."
Russia should now counter these war like sanctions with a few of their own... here's my ideas... first, additionally impose a 50% surcharge on current natural gas prices or turn off the flow to the e.u., and demand up front payment ... second, impose "NO FLIGHTS RESTRICTIONS" on any/all Asia bound u.s. or e.u. commercial/freighter flights crossing over Russian territory, or surcharge those same carriers at 5 euro/ km over same airspace- payment due before takeoff... third, dump more u.s. treasury bonds, as happened a few months back when the 100 billion $ of u.s. bond debt ended up on the balance sheets of Belgium, but all know that u.s. fed reserve bought them... "shhhhhhh, please don't tell the world that our dollar debt* is totally f*****g worthless"... it would seem that the puppet e.u. regimes just can't see the forest for the trees, but the jig is up guys, and seeing that you follow lockstep (or goosestep) with the u.s., the next few weeks should be quite interesting
*it's believed that between Russia and China, approx. 3 trillion of dollar debt is on their books