The chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee, Alexei Pushkov, thinks broader sanctions could be introduced in addition to individual ones against Ukrainian leaders.
“I believe it is necessary to introduce personal sanctions against a
number of Ukrainian government members, primarily those responsible for
civilian deaths and human rights violations in Ukraine, and the killing
of the journalists. As for broader sanctions, this is an issue which, in
my view, should start being discussed because we see that Western
countries have been using this mechanism extremely actively,” Pushkov
told a press conference at the Interfax head office on June 18.
He said he saw no reason why Russia should not use the sanctions mechanism.
“We must react to hostile actions against our country, sanctions
provide an opportunity to react to certain actions without having to
resort to some threats,” Pushkov said.
He added that while he is not an advocate of sanctions, in this
situation these help keep the situation within the political field.
