Russia warns against adverse results of US sanctions

MOSCOW, Dec 19 (KUNA) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday warned that the new US sanctions, envisaged in the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 will be counterproductive.
In a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry one day after US President Barack Obama signed the Act, Lavrov said the Act undermines all possibilities of bilateral cooperation.
Besides the Ukrainian crisis, the two men discussed the stalemate in the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, according to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Act took the anti-Russian sanctions to a new height by authorizing the provision of lethal military aid to Ukraine and imposition of additional sanctions on various Russian persons and entities.
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Yuriy Borisov said his country is beefing up its defense capabilities by deploying more sophisticated anti-missile early-warning systems in western Russian regions.
The radar station in Kaliningrad using the new high-tech Voronezh-DM system will go operational this month, Interfax news agency citied Borisov as saying.
The new system is able to detect ballistic missiles at a range of 6,000 miles, thus covering Russia's entire Western Military District and beyond, he pointed out.
The air defense system in Moscow region was also enhanced by the commissioning of the S-400 missile system, he said, adding that the ground forces received in the last four months 66 missile batteries of the new Verba type, 64 drones and S-300 missiles.
Yesterday President Vladimir Putin approved an increase in the military spending for 2015 which hit USD 50 billion. (end) as.gb