“Symmetrical or Asymmetrical”
Putin announces retaliation for sanctions
02/25/2022 11:54 am
The EU, Great Britain and the USA are launching massive sanctions against Russia. The Kremlin reacted indignantly. It goes without saying that “reprisals will follow,” Putin says. The type and scope of the counter-sanctions are unclear.
Russia has announced retaliation for sanctions imposed by the West. “It goes without saying that retaliatory measures will follow,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “How symmetrical or asymmetrical they will be will depend on the analysis of the restrictions” imposed on Russia.
The first known reaction was that Russia closed its airspace to British aircraft. All machines that a company related to or based in Great Britain owns, leases or operates are affected, said the Russian aviation authority Rosaviazia. Moscow was reacting to London’s decision on Thursday to ban the Russian airline Aeroflot from British airspace. Rosaviazia said the move was a “response to unfriendly decisions by UK aviation authorities”. The ban also includes overflights.
The West had sharply condemned Russia’s major attack on Ukraine. US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced punitive measures against several Russian banks and export controls that he said will “cut off more than half of Russia’s high-tech imports”.
The EU heads of state and government gave the green light for a new package of sanctions on Thursday evening. According to a summit declaration, the sanctions affect the Russian financial, energy and transport sectors, the export of dual-use goods that can be used for civil and military purposes, the issuing of visas for Russian citizens and a number of “Russian individuals”.
EU Council President Charles Michel announced further sanctions against Moscow at about the same time as the Kremlin’s threat. “Another (sanctions) package is urgently being prepared,” Michel said on Twitter. In light of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the United States, as well as Great Britain, Canada and Japan, among others, have tightened their sanctions against Russia.