Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that those who supported US Senator Lindsey Graham's bill, which envisages tough new sanctions against Russia and its trading partners, should ask themselves how it would affect efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Peskov said this after Graham said yesterday in a television interview that US President Donald Trump had told him that the sanctions bill could move towards a vote.
The Kremlin spokesman said that Russia is aware of Graham's positions and that he considers him "irreparable" “Russophobe“.
If the law is passed, 500% tariffs will be imposed on countries that buy Russian goods such as oil, which China and India import in large quantities.
In addition, Peskov commented on yesterday's protests in Serbia, where police clashed with protesters demanding early elections and an end to the rule of President Aleksandar Vucic. He said that there was no doubt that the leadership of Serbia, a close ally of Russia, could quickly restore calm.
At the same time, the Kremlin expressed regret over Azerbaijan's decision to cancel Russian cultural events on its territory after Azerbaijani citizens living in Russia were detained in police operations.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture said yesterday that it was canceling all concerts, exhibitions and other events planned by Russian state and private organizations due to the "demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence committed by Russian law enforcement agencies against Azerbaijanis on ethnic grounds in Yekaterinburg."
Several dozen Azerbaijanis were detained in the Russian industrial city in the Urals last week in connection with an unsolved murder case. Two of the detainees died after their arrest, and several others were injured.
The Kremlin said it was important to clarify the events, and that Russia was interested in further developing relations with Azerbaijan.
Russian nationalist bloggers said the police were simply doing their job and fighting crime.