MOSCOW, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday that the upcoming new round of U.S. sanctions against Russia will be senseless like previous ones.
"I did not warn. I just said that this is senseless. Nothing else. I said that the goal of this move is unclear. If they did not understand that the sanctions are not working, I feel sorry for them," Lavrov said in an interview with the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin." that aired on state TV channel Rossiya-1, when answering a question if Russia can counter new U.S. sanctions.
On Feb. 13, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a new bill, pushing the Trump administration to impose tougher sanctions against Moscow.
The bill stipulates introducing sanctions against 24 agents of the Russian Federal Security Service, whom Washington accuses of being linked to the Kerch Strait incident when Russia detained 24 Ukrainian seamen over violating the rules of passage.
The U.S. legislators also suggest sanctions on new sovereign debt, energy projects by Russian state companies abroad and certain banks.
The United States has already introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia over its alleged meddling in the U.S. presidential election and involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.
