Kremlin says United States waging 'economic war' against Moscow over Ukraine operation

LONDON: The Kremlin on Wednesday said that the United States has declared an “economic war” on Russia and that Moscow would think seriously about what to do after US President Joe Biden imposed a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had been, is and would be a reliable energy supplier and pointed out that energy flows continued. "But you see the bacchanalia, the hostile bacchanalia, which the West has sown - and that, of course, makes the situation very difficult and forces us to think seriously," Peskov said.

"The United States definitely has declared economic war against Russia and is waging this war," he said.

In a bid to further punish Russia over the Ukraine invasion, President Joe Biden had on Tuesday announced a ban on US imports of Russian oil, gas and energy, in the administration's most far-reaching action yet to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine.

"We're banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy. That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at US ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to (President Vladimir) Putin," Biden said in an address from the White House, adding that the decision was taken "in close consultation" with allies.

On the other hand, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Western countries for their retaliation against Russia, but also noted that NATO had failed to accede to his demands to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia on Wednesday said that it is negotiating with officials from Kyiv to resolve the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and underscored that Moscow's troops were “not working to topple the Ukrainian government.’’

"Some progress has been made," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a press briefing, referring to three rounds of talks with Kyiv. Maria Zakharova said the Russian military had not been tasked to "overthrow the current government."

Zakharova told the press briefing that Russia`s military operation was going strictly in line with its plan, adding “Russia will achieve its goal of ensuring Ukraine`s neutral status and would prefer to do that through talks.”