KLIMOVSK, March 14 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Rogozin on Thursday minimized the importance of sanctions, voiced by Western countries amid the ongoing international standoff over Ukraine's autonomous republic of Crimea.
“As far as sanctions are concerned, there is nothing to talk about so far. There are none at the moment. They have been announced, but we have had no chance to look at them, we haven’t seen them, we haven’t felt them yet,” Rogozin said.
Russia has vehemently opposed Ukraine’s pro-Western government that was installed last month following street clashes between police and the opposition led by far-right nationalist groups.
Russia was also accused of backing separatists in the Ukrainian Republic of Crimea – which is planning to secede – and deploying thousands of troops there, though official Moscow has denied sending troops to the pro-Russian region.
The United States and the European Union have threatened Russia with asset freezes and travel bans of officials involved in the Crimean affair, and all seven fellow members of the G8 group of powerful democracies have put preparations on hold for an upcoming summit in the Russian city of Sochi scheduled for June.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that potential sanctions over Ukraine would be a double-edged sword due to the interdependence of global trade.
Commenting on possible consequences of sanctions, Rogozin said that Russia should warn its western partners about the “boomerang effect” that they would have.
“Everything is inter-dependent in this world. When you launch a boomerang you should keep in mind that it will normally fly back to you,” the deputy prime minister said.
“We, for our part, are not going to threaten anyone with sanctions, this will be silly,” Rogozin continued.
The statement runs contrary to words by Russian Deputy Economic Development Minister Alexei Likhachev, who said on Wednesday that Russia did not rule out reciprocal action if sanctions were imposed.
