MOSCOW - The decision of the Group of Seven (G7) to extend sanctions against Russia will not have a positive impact on the global economy and on global affairs, the Kremlin said on Friday.
Earlier in the day, the G7 which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, representing the world’s major industrial nations, said in a statement that they had decided to extend sanctions against Russia or even adopt “new restrictive measures.”
“The Kremlin’s position has not changed: we still believe that this is not an issue on our agenda,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.
The West has imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia over its takeover of the Crimean peninsula and alleged interference in the Ukraine crisis since 2014.
On Friday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov slammed as “absurd” when commenting on the G7 statement, which relates its extension decision to Russia’s fulfillment of the Minsk agreement on the Ukraine crisis.
The West has long accused Moscow of failing to meet its obligations, which Russia has denied.(Xinhua)