MOSCOW, September 14 (RIA Novosti) - The United States currently pursue a tough policy towards Russia than during the Cold War to demonstrate that it is still the world leader, a senior Russian lawmaker said.
"The ferocity of the US policy against Moscow is greater today than at the time of the Cold War. They strive to show that the world is still under their control," Alexei Pushkov, the head of Russia's lower house Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in his Twitter microblog.
US-Russian relations have deteriorated drastically against the background of the Ukrainian crisis.
On Friday, the US Treasury Department confirmed that it was once again expanding sanctions against Russian companies and increasing the number of sanctioned Russian entities in the financial, energy and defense sectors. Under the new restrictions, Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, was added to the list of sanctioned financial institutions.
Moscow warned that it could respond to new Western sanctions to protect Russia's interests.
