'Blatant attack': Russia denounces UK sanctions threat

MOSCOW

Russia sees the UK’s threat to impose sanctions as “a blatant attack” on businesses, the Kremlin said on Monday.

At a daily briefing in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out that only restrictive measures formalized by the UN Security Council can be considered sanctions.

“The British foreign secretary talked about some sanctions. But here, I think, we should call everything by its proper name. Sanctions are something legitimate and something formalized by a decision of the UN Security Council,” he said.

“In this case, we are talking about a blatant attack on business.”

Such statements by UK officials undermine the country’s investment appeal, the spokesman added.

“It's not often you see or hear such direct threats to attack businesses,” he said.

Peskov said international financial and business bodies should view London’s “unpredictability” as a reason for serious concern.

He also vowed a response from Moscow to protect its interests.

“An attack by a particular country on Russian business, of course, warrants retaliatory measures, and these measures will be formulated solely taking into account our own interests,” he said.

- ‘US must stop escalating Ukraine tensions’

Peskov called on the US to stop escalating the situation in Ukraine and take “a constructive, calm and balanced position.”

He said the US media spread a lot of “false and provocative information” about Ukraine, which was now “becoming obvious to almost everyone.”

His remarks were a comment on Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent statement, where the Ukrainian president said the threat of war had not grown “but the fuss has increased.”

“Unfortunately, the American media in recent months has been publishing a very large amount of unverified, distorted, and deliberately false and provocative information about what is happening in Ukraine and around it,” Peskov said.

“This is already becoming obvious to almost everyone.”

Accusing the US and UK of intentionally aggravating the situation in Europe, he said European states need to realize that these powers are threatening the continent’s stability.

“The Anglo-Saxons are inflating tensions on the European continent. Here, we, Europeans, have something to think about when, for example, a country that is located outside our continent heightens tensions in our home,” said Peskov.

On Russia’s reply to Washington’s response on the security guarantees, the Kremlin spokesman said it will be made when President Vladimir Putin “considers it necessary.”