Russia's lawmaker slams US sanctions against Kadyrov

Russia’s State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has slammed Washington’s sanctions against Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov under the Magnitsky Act as absurd, warning that Russia will respond tit-for-tat soon.

"The United States, which declares aloud that it is the key anti-terror fighter, takes absurd decisions instead of building cooperation with those who have been successfully solving these tasks for a long time," Volodin said commenting on the US authorities’ recent decisions against Kadyrov and four other Russians.

The lower house speaker stressed that Russia will soon give "a tit-for-tat response and the principle of reciprocity will be observed."

The US sanctions policy is unacceptable, Volodin said, noting that Kadyrov had been elected as the head of the North Caucasus republic by people, holds the title of the Hero of Russia and has contributed to the fight against international terrorism. "Kadyrov is making a great effort to save children’s lives by organizing their evacuation from the conflict zones," TASS cited Volodin as saying.