Update | Russia charges US with reviving Iron Curtain with sanctions over Ukraine
Russia charges US with reviving Iron Curtain policies with sanctions as the talks to free seven European inspectors continue amid new violence
Moscow yesterday accused Washington of bringing back "Iron Curtain" policies in the fierce showdown over Ukraine, while the West revealed its new sanctions included measures against Russia's military chief.
The escalation in language from Russia underlined the cold war echoes of the crisis as the US and Europe set in motion sanctions to hammer Russian figures and firms close to President Vladimir Putin.
All of that is a blow to our high-tech enterprises and industries
The geopolitical tensions fuelled unrest on the ground in east Ukraine, where sporadic violence was unabated and talks to free seven European inspectors held by rebels continued. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov tore into the United States for leading the sanctions charge on Monday, especially for its decision to curb hi-tech exports to Russia that could have military uses.
"All of that is a blow to our high-tech enterprises and industries," Ryabkov told online newspaper Gazeta.ru
"This is a revival of a system created in 1949 when Western countries essentially lowered an 'Iron Curtain', cutting off supplies of high-tech goods to the USSR and other countries."
The European Union revealed that General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia's armed forces and the country's deputy defence minister, was one of 15 Russians and Ukrainians targeted by an asset freeze and travel ban in the bloc's latest blacklist.
Russia's foreign ministry responded by saying the European bloc was "doing Washington's bidding".