Russians Minister says, Russia🇷🇺 will 'respond harshly' to 'damaging' sanctions

Russian 🇷🇺 Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, his country will "respond harshly to things that will damage us" after the US ordered fresh sanctions.

"It was started precisely with the purpose of undermining Russian-American relations and preventing Trump from making constructive proposals during his presidency," said Mr Lavrov, "to make it as difficult as possible for him to implement his election promises to normalise relations with Russia."

Lavrov said Russia was still weighing up its response to the latest measure.

"We'll react as soon as we finish our analysis," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not initially respond to then-President Barack Obama's sanctions, but announced the sharp reduction of US 🇺🇸 staff in July.

UCJ, UNILORIN.