MOSCOW, April 24 (Reuters) – Russia said on Friday that new European Union sanctions on its oil and gas would hurt developing countries and the EU itself, and promised to retaliate.
The EU adopted a 20th package of sanctions against Russia over Moscow’s war in Ukraine on Thursday, including further restrictions on the transportation of Russian oil and gas and sanctions against oil producers and refineries.
“All this is happening amid a global energy crisis and resource shortages that are being acutely felt in most regions of the world,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters at her weekly press conference.
“By attempting to further destabilize energy markets, Brussels is hurting both itself and developing countries, which are no longer able to afford energy at artificially inflated prices.”
She said the sanctions also threatened food security as they included restrictions on fertilisers.
“We will take retaliatory measures. They will be tough, designed in accordance with our interests,” Zakharova added.
(Reporting by Filipp Lebedev; Writing by Mark Trevelyan and Anastasia Teterevleva)
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