WASHINGTON, November 20 (Sputnik) – US Vice President Joe Biden has suggested toughening sanctions against Russia if Moscow continued on its current course in Ukraine, the White House said in a statement Thursday.
During a phone conversation, Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma and Joe Biden agreed that the sanctions "would need to be intensified if Russia continued on its current course,” according to the statement published on White House's website.
Over the past few months, the United States has implemented several rounds of sanctions against Russia over the country’s alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis — a claim Moscow has repeatedly denied. Washington also persuaded its allies to add Russian companies and individuals to their own blacklists. The sanctions particularly targeted defense, energy and banking sectors of Russian economy.
Moscow has repeatedly said that sanctions "threaten international peace and stability" and run counter to the principles of international law.
