You're reading: Kremlin: Russia’s sanctions on Ukraine provoked by Kyiv

In light of Ukraine’s announcement of new sanctions on Russia, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said he hoped Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s inauguration would at some point take place and pointed out that Russia’s sanctions on Ukraine had been provoked by Kyiv.

“On the whole, it should be remembered that all previous decisions by the Russian side [on sanctions on Ukraine] had been provoked by Ukrainian authorities,” Peskov told journalists on Wednesday, when asked to comment on Ukraine’s new sanctions on Russia and say whether Russia would reciprocate or wait for the newly-elected president’s inauguration.

Peskov said he was hoping for Zelenskiy to take office.

“We hope the new (Ukrainian) president’s inauguration ceremony will take place sooner or later,” he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Ukrainian Cabinet of ministers broadened the list of Russian goods banned from being imported to Ukraine. The list includes mineral fertilizers, agricultural products, transport vehicles, cement, and plywood.

The Ukrainian Economic Development and Trade Ministry said imports of cement products from Russia amounted to nearly $17 million and those of plywood to $19.7 million in 2018.

The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers also said it would impose special duties on goods from Russia to be levied independently of other duties starting August 1, 2019. These special duties would be earmarked for a special budget fund to finance import substitution measures in the future.