Russia vows to retaliate against US, Canadian sanctions

Russia vowed to take retaliatory measures against fresh US and Canadian sanctions, calling the moves an evidence that the West lacks interest in settling the Ukraine crisis.

"The United States and Canada still cannot put up with the results of free declaration of will in Crimea and Sevastopol," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Saturday in a statement, Xinhua reported.

"Our advice to Washington and Ottawa is to think about consequences from actions of the kind ... And we shall work on retaliatory measures," he added.

The diplomat cited recent the US decision to mend ties with Cuba after half a century of blockade as an example that "even the most inveterate fans of sanctions may have discernment, though this happens not immediately".

US President Barack Obama on Friday signed an executive order, imposing a ban on new investment in Crimea and barring export or import of goods, technology or services with the Ukrainian region, which joined Russia after a referendum in March without recognition from Kiev and the West.

On the same day, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Ottawa will introduce restrictions on the export of technology in relation to Arctic, deep water and shale oil explorations and extraction to Russia.

The sanctions came a day after the European Union unleashed similar sanctions on Moscow in connection with Crimea's incorporation into Russia.

Washington and its allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow over its alleged destabilizing role in the Ukraine crisis, seriously hitting Russia's economy.