Russia pledges retaliatory measures after new US sanctions

Moscow pledged retaliatory measures after a new set of sanctions imposed by the United States on a Russian ship and two companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The $11 billion project, which will double the existing Nord Stream pipeline across the Baltic Sea and allow Russia to bypass Ukraine when piping gas to Europe, has been a focal point of tensions between Moscow and Washington.

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Washington imposed the sanctions on Friday on a ship, its owner and a construction company, but opponents of the project said the measures were insufficient to stop it.

The US and Britain also imposed sanctions on Friday on men they said were Russian intelligence operatives responsible for the poisoning one year ago of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

“We view such hostile actions by the Biden administration as dictated by a lack of political will and an unwillingness to build US-Russian relations on a partnership basis,” Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, was quoted as saying in the statement.

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