Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Russian President Vladimir Putin's decree implies retaliatory sanctions in response to Ukraine's actions and they will not affect Ukrainians in Russia.
"Ukraine is taking measures both in relation to the economy, in relation to legal entities, and in relation to individuals. Therefore, neither one nor the other or the third can be excluded. The decree instructs the government to develop a respective list," Peskov told journalists in Moscow, answering a question on the areas the Russian sanctions may concern.
Answering a clarifying question from an UNIAN correspondent in Russia whether the sanctions would massively affect citizens of Ukraine staying or residing in the Russian Federation, or whether they would be selectively applicable, he said: "President Putin has repeatedly said the citizens of Ukraine suffer from the policy pursued by the [Ukrainian] leadership because of those reckless actions in the country's southeast the citizens of Ukraine were involved in."
"President Putin has repeatedly said in this case we do not consider the Ukrainian people our adversaries and do not [apply] any restrictions," Peskov said.
He added the Ukrainian people are "fraternal" "except for unsuccessful representatives of that nation who are plagued by nationalist and ultranationalist sentiments."
As UNIAN reported earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 22 signed a decree to introduce "special economic measures" in response to Ukraine's "unfriendly actions."
