Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in connection with another round of US sanctions against Russia

We regret yet another decision by the US authorities to impose sanctions on two Russian companies, which allegedly engage in hiring North Korean workers in our country.

As before, the Americans did not provide any evidence, just their usual suspicions, and want everyone to take their word for it. Russia is again being accused of “sins,” this time in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions.

We strongly reject these accusations and condemn the US practice of extraterritorial application of its legal regulations, which run counter to the generally accepted provisions of international law. Moreover, there are well-grounded concerns related to compliance with the decisions agreed upon in the Security Council by Washington itself. Resuming sanctions pressure on Iran after the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action approved by UN Security Council Resolution 2231 is a case in point.

Groundless restrictions against Russian companies are an arbitrary discriminatory move on the part of the US administration, which is apparently trying to divert, in this awkward manner, public attention from its own destructive behaviour in the foreign policy arena.