US anti-Russia sanctions further damaging bilateral ties: Moscow

"The trend to continue a dialogue in the language of sanctions is further destroying our bilateral relations," Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, told journalists on Friday.
 
Earlier in the day, the US added the Yuzhno-Kirinskoye oil and gas field, located in the Sea of Okhotsk of the Siberian coast and owned by Russia's leading gas giant Gazprom, to its list of sanctions imposed on Moscow over its alleged role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
 
The West’s illegitimate bans have been unable to significantly affect the Russian economy, Peskov further noted.
 
"The economy is showing its steadiness, so I don't think we can talk about any significant or systematic influence from such actions, which we do not consider successful, legitimate or most importantly far-sighted," the Russian official stated.
 
Since March 2014, the US and some other Western countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia, claiming that Moscow is involved in the deadly crisis in neighboring Ukraine, which broke out when Kiev launched military operations to suppress pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine last year. Russia has denied the allegation.
 
In a tit-for-tat measure against the sanctions, Moscow imposed food bans on the US, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway last August.