Nebenzya warned that Russia would respond to Western sanctions over Ukraine

If Western countries impose sanctions against RUSSIA, this will cause damage to all parties, Moscow will be forced to respond. This was stated by the Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Vasily Nebenzya during a press conference. The broadcast was conducted on the website of the organization.

“We have learned to live with it. <...> I hope they have enough sober mind not to introduce them. But it will elicit a backlash. Of course, we will answer,” the diplomat said (quoted by RIA Novosti).

Nebenzya also noted that Western consideration of preventive sanctions against Russia is "ironic." “They are now talking about sanctions before anything happened,” said Russia’s permanent representative to the UN. Kiev, he continued, does not fulfill the agreements concluded in MINSK, but Moscow falls under the sanctions .

The diplomat also considered a provocation the meeting of the UN Security Council, held at the initiative of the United States because of the situation around Ukraine. “Putting these things the way they did yesterday is like a call to war,” he concluded. Nebenzya also pointed out that Russian servicemen "where they are usually located, they are not on the Ukrainian border." He advised journalists to contact the Ministry of Defense for comments on the number of troops and noted that he did not understand “where the figure of 100 [thousand troops] came from. military personnel].