Yesterday, the Trump administration slapped a new round of sanctions on Chinese and Russian entities accused of aiding the North Korean nuclear program. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said it would target 10 entities and six individuals who help already sanctioned people to aid North Korea’s missile program, or who “deal in the North Korean energy trade.” Predictably, the Russian and Chinese government’s were less than pleased, with spokespeople for both governments claiming the sanctions are illegitimate because they were not approved by the United Nations.
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A representative for the Russian government meanwhile promised that a “response” is in the works,” according to Russia Today.
Just like China, which immediately slammed the Trump administration, demanding that the “mistake” be fixed asap, the Russian government is just as angry with this latest round of sanctions and, as they have done many times in the recent past, the Russians threatened retaliation. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov issued a statement expressing disappointment, and warning Washington that Russia was working on a response.
‘Against such a depressing backdrop, the lip service from American representatives about the desire to stabilize bilateral relations is extremely unconvincing,’ Ryabkov said. ‘We have always and will always support resolving our existing differences through dialogue. In recent years, Washington in theory should have learned that for us the language of sanctions is unacceptable, and the solutions to real problems are only hindered by such actions. So far, however, there doesn’t seem to be an understanding of such obvious truths.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on Aug 23, 2017.
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