Russia condemns U.S. restrictions on Cuba, rejects unilateral sanctions

MOSCOW, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Russia strongly condemns the latest restrictive measures imposed by the United States on Cuba, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Saturday.

Zakharova made the remarks in response to a media question regarding a U.S. executive order published on Thursday, which threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba.

She noted that unilateral sanctions against sovereign and independent states, adopted in circumvention of the United Nations and its Charter as well as other norms of international law, are "categorically unacceptable."

Zakharova said the U.S. move represents yet another radical relapse of Washington's long-standing strategy of maximum pressure on Cuba, aimed at economically suffocating the Caribbean country. ■