MOSCOW
Russia has declared sanctions against nine American officials hours after U.S President Barack Obama extended similar measures against supporters of President Vladimir Putin and a Kremlin-associated Russian bank.
Referring to the list of sanctions posted by the United States following Russia's annexation of Crimea, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday, “Russia has sanctioned the same number of US officials.”
“The decision for sanctions is a two-way traffic and the Americans do not want to confess that the Crimean people have decided to join the Russian Federation appropriate to international rules and the UN statute."
"There should be no doubt that each and every hostile action will be retaliated in the same way,” the statement said.
U.S. officials on the Russian sanctions list include Assistant National Security Adviser Caroline Atkinson, White House Assistant National Security Adviser Benjamin Rhodes, White House Senior Adviser Daniel Pfeiffer, Senate Majority Leader (Democrat) Harry Reid, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (Republican), Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Robert Menendez and Senators Mary Landrieu, John McCain and Daniel Coats.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
