WASHINGTON, July 18 (RIA Novosti) - The extended sectoral sanctions imposed by the United States were specifically designed to minimize possible financial market shocks, US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said.
"Sanctions that we imposed yesterday were deliberately crafted to limit to the extent possible spillovers on the United States and third-country companies. For example, in the financial sector we deliberately avoided interfering with day to day operation to avoid a shock to global financial markets," Psaki told the press, commenting on the "precautions" taken by the United States in the move to further extend sanctions against Russia.
Contrary to Washington's cautious objectives, European stock markets fell after further sanctions against Russia were announced. The news pushed markets down on Thursday as many investors tried to mitigate risks.
Earlier on Wednesday, US authorities imposed new sanctions against a number of Russian companies and banks, specifically Gazprombank and Vnesheconombank, also known as the Development and Foreign Economic Affairs Bank.
Head of Russia's VTB24 Bank Andrei Kostin condemned the US sanctions as inappropriate, as they fail to meet any existing legal norms. The statement goes in line with VTB Capital analysts' opinion that the design of US sectoral sanctions will produce a maximal media reaction and a minimal macroeconomic effect.
The United States and the European Union accuse Russia of meddling with Ukraine’s internal affairs, and have already introduced targeted sanctions against a number of Russian officials and companies.
Moscow considers the new package of American sanctions to be Washington’s primitive attempted revenge, because the events in Ukraine went off-track and are no longer following the US-devised scenario, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement reacting to the new sanctions.
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