Russia terms fresh US sanctions as 'echoes of hostility'

Russia has termed fresh United States of America (USA) sanctions against Russian companies as "echoes of hostility" but said that Moscow is ready to foster constructive relations with Washington.

Russian news agency TASS quoted Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Moscow is monitoring information on sanctions "very closely".

"In any case, these are echoes of unfriendly manifestations, to be exact, even hostile manifestations against our country," Peskov told reporters.

He further said, "Moscow is still ready to foster constructive relations with the United States, although Washington's wish to do this is unstable."

TASS report said that Peskov recalled President Vladimir Putin's words that "Russia is ready to move further in bilateral ties with Washington as long as the US partners are ready and wish to do this".

Commenting about US President Donald Trump's remarks about North Korea that Russia and US cooperation is a must to resolve North Korea nuclear issue, the spokesman said that Trump's statement corresponds with the stance of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"As for the US president's message in social networks, of course, this is in line with Putin's repeated statements that closer ties between Russia and the US are not only in the interests of the two countries' peoples but also in the interests of global stability and security, including in the interests of resolving regional conflicts and crises, which include the North Korean issue," TASS quoted Peskov, as saying.

Peskov referred to "President Putin's consistent stance that the Korean Peninsula should be free of nuclear weapons and denuclearized, that the current crisis should be resolved and that the only way of solving this problem is political and diplomatic methods".

He also recalled Putin's remarks that "excessive bravado could steer the situation into a dead end and in no way contributes to a settlement".

The Kremlin spokesman also recalled Putin's statements that "Russia is ready to make progress in our bilateral relations [between Russia and the US] insofar as our US counterparts will be ready for this and are willing to do this".

He said that as of now this willingness is not so steady, but we will be patient and continue to be committed to a constructive approach.