White House Prepares New Sanctions, Russia: No Legal Basis!

Juru bicara Kementerian Luar Negeri Rusia Maria Zakharova. (Wikimedia Commons / DIP MFA RF / photographer Nikita Kochuk)

JAKARTA - Moscow called the statement of new sanctions by the White House, the United States (US) just days after President Joe Biden's meeting with President Vladimir Putin, invalid and has no legal basis.

This statement was delivered by the Spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday on the Solovyev Live YouTube channel.

"The United States is advocating its agenda. We can qualify it in various ways. In this regard, this agenda as well as statements about the introduction of sanctions for the use of chemical weapons and some poisonings, are just myths and have no legal basis", she said, quoting TASS on June 22.

Zakharova further explained, the statement has no legal basis, because it is not in accordance with the US CBW [Chemical and Biological Weapons Act] 1991.

The Russian Foreign Ministry's first female spokeswoman recalled that the US cited the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) when developing sanctions.

"We all know, it is public knowledge, of the destructive policies of the US and its satellite states on the platform of this organization with the aim of turning it into a tacitly compliant tool for the implementation of their agenda", she criticized.

Zakharova added that Washington clearly linked the anti-Russian sanctions to a purely commercial project that they cannot stop, either through economic or political means.

"As a result, they took their favorite approach, pushed the sanction button, and linked it to the much-hyped chemical weapons issue, stepping on the gas even further", Zakharova said.

As previously reported, the US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday Washington was preparing new sanctions against Russia over the situation with Alexey Navalny. According to him, US officials continue to impose sanctions on Russian companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.