The Kremlin stated that Russia is working on defensive measures to prepare for possible new sanctions from the United States and other countries. A package of sanctions drafted by U.S. lawmakers was signed into law by President Donald Trump in August. One provision asks the U.S. Treasury Secretary to submit a report on the impact of expanding sanctions to cover Russian sovereign debt and the outcome is expected as early as February, Reuters reports.
The reason why United States and the European Union imposed sanctions was Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea as well as its support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Those sanctions remain in place, but there could be more. There are more and more calls for new sanctions after the allegations that Russia meddled in the American presidential election, even though official Moscow denies those accusations.
Kremlin was asked to comment the media reports that Russian state development bank VEB planned to transfer its Globex bank to the state and on the allegations that the bank would be used to service the military industrial complex to try to protect Russia from new sanctions. According to Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, Russia is taking measures to defend its interests.
“We are working on and taking measures aimed at defending our interests against a backdrop of possible new restrictive actions and sanctions by various countries, which we continue to deem unlawful,” Peskov said during conference call with reporters.
He added that right now it would not be right to make public or disclose those measures aimed at hedging their risks. Peskov did not mention Globex bank.
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