Germany voices concern over US sanctions against Russia

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN

Germany voiced concern on Friday over the proposed new U.S. sanctions against Russia, and warned against using them as a tool to harm European companies.

Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel called on President Donald Trump-led U.S. administration to coordinate policies with European partners and not unilaterally impose tougher sanctions against Russia.

"Our stance remains that we will not accept any extraterritorial use whatsoever of these U.S. sanctions against European companies,” Gabriel said in a statement.

"President Trump knows that, and so do the State Department and the U.S. Administration. Sanctions policies are neither a suitable nor an appropriate instrument for promoting national export interests and the domestic energy sector.”

The U.S. Senate approved on Thursday new sanctions against Russia, due to its role in the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. If endorsed by Trump, the new tough approach against Russia threatens the business of major German energy companies.

The newly-proposed sanctions include possible measures against companies which give financial or technological support to Russian energy export pipelines.

German companies were concerned about possible consequences for the planned Nord Stream II natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany.

Gabriel has long favored Nord Stream II and closer economic ties to Russia, as a way of gaining political leverage over Moscow.

Moscow sharply criticized the U.S. Congress on Friday for passing the new bill calling for tougher sanctions against Russia.

"This measure is further proof of the Unites States’ extremely hostile foreign policy,” Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It also announced counter-measures that would affect U.S. interests, which included cutting numbers of the U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia and suspending use of summer residence in Moscow.

A ministry statement set a Sept. 1 deadline to “bring the number of diplomatic and technical staff at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, the consulates general in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok, into strict correspondence with the number of Russian diplomats and technical staff currently working in the United States, by Sept. 1, 2017."

It also suspended as of Aug. 1 the U.S. use of a summer residence in Moscow’s Serebryany Bor and storage facilities on Dorozhnaya Street.

"Russia reserves the right to resort to other measures affecting U.S. interests on a retaliatory basis,” the statement added.