“Russia, naturally, considers these sanctions to be unfounded and illegal, and we have never been the instigators of sanction measures,” Peskov told journalists.
Peskov said that Russia would respond by extending measures against the European Union, which include the foodstuffs' imports from Europe to Russia.
The Kremlin spokesman said that the restrictive measures “undermine the interests not only of those participants in economic activity in [Russia], but also the interests of taxpayers in European governments.”
Economic measures targeting Russia’s banking, energy and defense industries were introduced by the European Union, the United States and their allies in 2014.
An Austrian Institute of Economic Research study published late last week estimated that anti-Russia sanctions could cost the EU up to $114 billion and affect over 2 million of the bloc's jobs.
