The spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry said that preparations were underway for a retaliatory response to Canada’s sanctions. “Ottawa has reduced bilateral relations with Moscow to the lowest level in the interests of the United States,” she said.
According to the Novosti news agency, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on the Canadian government’s move to impose new sanctions on nine Russian officials, said that Ottawa officials had reduced bilateral relations with Moscow to the lowest level in history.
“The decision by Ottawa officials to impose new anti-Russian sanctions, which stemmed from their anti-Russian tendencies but under the pretext of ‘prosecuting Alexei Navalny and the opposition in Russia,’ is not surprising,” Zakharova said. “Because the leaders of the Canadian government have long reduced bilateral relations to an all-time low through their actions and their senseless and unconstructive confrontation with Russia in the interests of US geopolitics.”
The senior Russian diplomat continued that Canada’s distance from Russia was not in the interests of its people and that such decisions only showed the lack of independence in foreign policy and Ottawa’s diplomatic orientations.
“Of course we are ready for honest and mutually respectful talks, but certainly in the very near future we will take hostile and personal action,” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, noting that preparations are underway for a retaliatory response to Canada’s sanctions. “We will respond appropriately to the Government of Canada.”
It should be noted that the Canadian government on Wednesday imposed sanctions on nine real Russian personalities because of the status of “Alexei Navalny”, the United States and the European Union had previously announced similar sanctions against Russia in this regard.
