Russian diplomat on Skripal sanctions: all U.S. charges ephemeral

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the new U.S. sanctions on Russia over the Skripal case.

According to her, exceptions in the new American sanctions against Moscow just confirm the hypocrisy and bias of Washington’s actions.

"All the articulated charges are ephemeral, but the restrictions launched today are quite real, although they are similar to the operating ones in many aspects,"she stressed. "Among them are the end of technical support programs, the prohibition of the sale of military products to Russia, the end of financing Russian military programs, the suspension of state credits and financial help granted to us and the suspension of the issuance of licenses by the US Department of Commerce for exporting dual-use goods and technologies for Russian companies with public ownership and public financing," the diplomat noted.

"The stipulated exceptions from the restriction regime - deliveries under space programs or in the sphere of civil aviation flights just confirm the hypocrisy and bias of the US authorities’ actions," Zakharova stressed.

"We consider Washington’s decision to be part of a deliberate policy aimed at diluting the international mechanism of arms control and non-proliferation, including the chemical weapons ban," Zakharova said. "Unlike the United States, Russia remains committed to its obligations - we completely eliminated our chemical weapons and it has been properly verified, particularly by U.S. experts," she stressed.

"By taking steps of this kind, Washington continues obstructing the opportunities for dialogue on the current problems in the multilateral and bilateral formats," she pointed out. "It is highly regrettable the US political elite cannot assimilate the very simple truth that sanctions will not force Russia to swerve from the path of resolute defense of its national interests," Zakharova noted. "Quite naturally, such steps on the part of Washington do not facilitate a respectful and civilized bilateral dialogue and collaboration that would be appropriate for our two powers," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded.