REUTERS
The expansion of the U.S. sanctions list is aimed at strengthening the existing restrictive measures and is not related to the vote held Wednesday in the UN Security Council on establishing an international tribunal to investigate the downing of flight MH17 in Ukraine last year, Russian information agency RIA Novosti reported referring to a statement by the U.S. Embassy's press secretary William Stevens.
"Today's sanction actions are not an escalation. Rather they are a routine step to strengthen existing measures," Stevens said.
According to him, the measures are aimed at enhancing the impact of existing sanctions.
Stevens noted the restrictions are not linked to Russia's veto on the MH17 tribunal resolution.
"This is not related at all [to voting in UNSC], this is about maintaining the integrity of existing sanctions to make sure that they have the same impact that they had been having all along," the U.S. Embassy's press secretary said.
The United States imposed further Russia and Ukraine-related sanctions on Thursday, adding associates of a billionaire Russian gas trader, Crimean port operators and former Ukrainian officials to its list of those it is penalizing in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine, according to Reuters.