The prospects of being targeted by US sanctions were met with humour from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who appeared positively aghast at the thought of being spared such embargos from the United States.
Lavrov made this remark while being interviewed by chief editors of four Russian radio stations, when one of them, Roman Babayan of Govorit Moskva, said that the United States' government is ready to introduce sanctions against Russia's leadership, "even” Lavrov.
“What do you mean by 'even'? What, am I not worthy?” the Russian foreign minister joked in response.
Babayan then elaborated that he meant that threatening sanctions against a country's foreign minister and president is simply unheard of.
Earlier this month, US Democratic senators introduced legislation to impose sanctions against Russia if it were to invade Ukraine, including embargos against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as well as other top Russian government officials.
The sanctions mulled by US legislators also include restrictions on Russia'sbanking sector and prohibiting transactions involving Russian sovereign debt, as well as potentially cutting Russia off from the SWIFT interbank transfer system.
Relations between Russia and the United States took a turn for the worse recently amid unproven claims that Moscow is planning an invasion of Ukraine.
Russia vehemently rejected these allegations and argued that such rhetoric may serve as a pretext for further NATO military expansion in Eastern Europe.