‘Hostile’ US sanctions on Russia used to squeeze out competitors in global trade – Kremlin

By imposing sanctions on buyers of Russian weapons, the US is trying to squeeze out competitors in the global arms trade, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. The previous day, the US added another 33 Russian officials to its blacklist of individuals who fall under the anti-Russian sanctions, TASS reported. The officials are linked to the Russian defense manufacturing sector. Sanctions were also reportedly imposed on six Russian companies. Peskov described the sanctions as hostile and unpredictable, citing unfair competition as the main factor behind them. By these non-market methods, which run counter to the norms and principles of international trade, the main competitor to US producers is being squeezed from the markets, the spokesman said. “You know that production of the Russian military-industrial complex is not just competitive, but often supercompetitive,” Peskov told reporters.