Xinhua, Moscow :
Russia-U.S. confrontation is extending to the economic and trade field as Washington is poised to slap new and powerful sanctions in a move Moscow views as the declaration of an “economic war.”
The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that Washington will impose new sanctions on Russia on or around Aug. 22 over the alleged poison attack on ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the British city of Salisbury in March.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the U.S. restrictions will possibly include a ban on foreign assistance to Russia and sale of military and dual-use items to the country, as well as renunciation of providing state loans and other financial aid.
U.S. State Department officials estimated that the sanctions may affect hundreds of millions of dollars worth of exports, dealing a blow to some 70 percent of the Russian economy which may result in an approximately 40-percent fall in workforce.
“All I can say is: if they ban banking operations or the use of any currency we will call it the declaration of an economic war,” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Friday.
“And we’ll have to respond to it – economically, politically or in any other way, if need be. Our American friends should make no mistake about it,” he warned.
News about the upcoming U.S. sanctions has thrown Russian ruble to a record low since 2016. The currency traded 67.72 per U.S. dollar on the spot market at the Moscow Exchange Friday.
Russian stocks also tumbled on Friday, with the ruble-denominated MOEX Russia Index falling 1.5 percent and the U.S. dollar-denominated RTS Index dropping 3.68 percent.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov attributed the ruble depreciation partly to the new U.S. sanctions. But he added that the unstable situation on developing markets are also to blame.
Russia-U.S. confrontation is extending to the economic and trade field as Washington is poised to slap new and powerful sanctions in a move Moscow views as the declaration of an “economic war.”
The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that Washington will impose new sanctions on Russia on or around Aug. 22 over the alleged poison attack on ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the British city of Salisbury in March.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the U.S. restrictions will possibly include a ban on foreign assistance to Russia and sale of military and dual-use items to the country, as well as renunciation of providing state loans and other financial aid.
U.S. State Department officials estimated that the sanctions may affect hundreds of millions of dollars worth of exports, dealing a blow to some 70 percent of the Russian economy which may result in an approximately 40-percent fall in workforce.
“All I can say is: if they ban banking operations or the use of any currency we will call it the declaration of an economic war,” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Friday.
“And we’ll have to respond to it – economically, politically or in any other way, if need be. Our American friends should make no mistake about it,” he warned.
News about the upcoming U.S. sanctions has thrown Russian ruble to a record low since 2016. The currency traded 67.72 per U.S. dollar on the spot market at the Moscow Exchange Friday.
Russian stocks also tumbled on Friday, with the ruble-denominated MOEX Russia Index falling 1.5 percent and the U.S. dollar-denominated RTS Index dropping 3.68 percent.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov attributed the ruble depreciation partly to the new U.S. sanctions. But he added that the unstable situation on developing markets are also to blame.
