Russian Foreign Ministry threatens retaliatory measures because of extension of US sanctions
The Russian Foreign Ministry commented on the extension of United States sanctions on their agency website. The ministry stated that they reserve the right to use retaliatory measures that would meet Russia’s interests. The ministry added that such actions do not help to resolve the Ukrainian crisis; they only erode Russian-American relations. The ministry also called the US sanctions policy “futile.”
Recently it became public knowledge that US President Barack Obama deliberately prolonged the sanctions against Russia due to developments in Ukraine. According to a White House report, "the actions and policies referred to in the previous decrees, are continuing and are an extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the USA."